* PArROLL SAVINGS ★
Tire$ton«
GASTONIA
★ PAYROLL SAVINGS ★
VOLUME 11
GASTONIA^ N. C., MAY 25, 1953
NO. 10
Claudette Taylor Awarded One Of 22 Scholarships
A Letter From Mr, Firestone
May 14, 1953
^iss Claudette S. Taylor
106 South Dalton Street
Gastonia, North Carolina
I^ear Miss Taylor:
It is a great pleasure fox me to inform you that the Fiieston
Scholarship Committee has selected you as an outstanding studen
deserves to receive the benefits of advanced educationa oppor
^unities. As one of the limited number of students chosen roni
a large group of applicants, you have ample reason to ^
the record you have already established and we are confident that
you will continue to do outstanding work in college.
Please accept my hearty congratulations on winning th
I sincerely hope that your future education will help you
significant economic and social contributions to your family,
your community and your country.
Sincerely yours,
Harvey S. Firestone, Ji.
Chairman
^SFJr:tnmf
^cAbee Heads Supervisory Delegation
23rd Industrial Safety Conference
SAFETY DIRECTOR L. B. Mc-
■^bee and six others from the plant
^ttended the 23rd annual N. C.
^dustrial Safety Conference in
Winston-Salem. The conference
opened at Hotel Robert E. Lee on
13th and continued with day
evening sessions through May
15th.
Those attending with Mr. Mc-
bee included Overseer O. K. For
rester; Second Hands Claude Tay-
Hasel Cauthen, “Pete” Me-
and Carl Guffey; and Bob
Mood, editor of the plant news
paper,
highlight of the conference for
the Firestone delegation was the
[J^e^ation of the N. C. Cotton
Manufacturers Safety Award to
Firestone Textiles for jts outstand
ing record in safety for the year
1952. Mr. McAbee received the a-
ward from W. G. Alligood, Mount
Holly, representing the N. C. Cot
ton Manufacturers Association.
The award was made at the an
nual conference banquet which
concluded the second day of con
ference activities.
In addition to those from Fire
stone who attended the entire con
ference another group from the
plant went to Winston-Salem for
the banquet only. This group in
cluded Supervisors A. C. Kessell,
Robert Spencer, Paul Walker, and
Raymond Mack.
AWARD of a full Firestone Col
lege Scholarship to Miss Claudette
S. Taylor, of 106 South Dalton
Street, Gastonia, North Carolina,
was announced May 18 in a letter
received by Miss Taylor from Mr.
Hai vey S. Firestone, Jr., Chairman
of The Firestone Tire & Rubber
Company.
Miss Taylor, a senior at Gas
tonia Senior High School, was a-
mong 22 recipients of Firestone
Scholarships which are being a-
warded this year for the first time
to sons and daughters of em
ployees of the Firestone Company.
Scholarship wiiiiTcrs may attend
any college or university in the
United States if it is an accredited
institution.
Miss Taylor’s father, Ci? ide R.
Taylor, is a supervisor in the!
Twisting Department of the Fire
stone Textiles plant in Gastonia.
Her mother, Mrs. Delona Taylor,
is employed in the Cord Weaving
Department.
Although only 15 Firestone
Scholarship awards were announc
ed as available last January, it
was decided upon the recommenda
tion of the Scholarship Board to
award an additional seven scholar
ships because of the extreme close
ness of the leading applicants.
Miss Taylor was among the 22
high school students to win schol
arships which provide for full
tuition, academic fees, textbooks,
and a contribution toward living
costs. Firestone Scholarships are
renewable each year until Te-
quirements for a degree are ful
filled if satisfactory scholastic
standings are maintained.
Of the other winners of Fire
stone Scholarships, one each was
from California, Utah, Connecti
cut, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas and
Indiana; two were from Massa
chusetts; four from Tennessee, and
eight from Ohio.
A Conference Highlight
m
FIRESTONE SCHOLARSHIP WINNER—Miss Claudette Taylor,
second from left, is congratulated by Harold Mercer, General
Manager of F'restone Textiles as she is announced a winner of
a Firestone Scholarship. Miss Taylor, who has maintained a
superb scholastic record at Gastonia High School, will—along with
21 other winners from other sections of the country—^I'eceive a four-
year expenses paid college education under the scholarship program.
0th. 1in the picture are Mrs. Delona Taylor, left, and Claude
Taylo”, right, parents of the winner.
More Liberal. . .
Holiday Pay & Overtime Credit
Allowed Under New Work Policy
Forresfer To Head
Planf Bond Drive
another SAFETY AWARD-L. B. McAbee, left, receives t e
^«rth Carolina Cotton Manufacturers Safety Award from W. G.
Alligood, representing the N. C. Cotton Manufacturers Assoc The
was made at the Safety Conference banquet on May 14, m
Winston-Salem.
A two-week bond drive will be
conducted throughout the plant
beginning June 1st, under the
leadership of Overseer 0. K. For
rester. Mr. Forrester, who has
served successfully in previous
drives, says that all employees will
be personally contacted during the
drive by solicitors in an effort to
increase employee participation in
the Payroll Savings Plan.
“Since our last drive in 1951,”
says Mr. Forrester, “weVe fallen
somewhat behind in payroll de
duction participation. Our purpose
in conducting the drive starting
June 1st is to boost our percentage
participation to its former high
level.”
In spite of the decline in bond
buying at this plant since 1951, it
should be noted that Firestone
Textiles still maintains an enviable
bond buying record. This plant was
only recently awarded the Treas
ury Award for having 64 per cent
of all employees enrolled in the
Payroll Savings Plan in 1952.
THE bulletin board announce
ment of liberalization in our em
ployee benefits that went into ef
fect February 16 contains some
changes in the policy regarding
overtime and holiday pay. Perhaps
the best way to explain the effect
of these changes is to give some
examples of how they will operate:
1. A holiday (other than Chirst-
mas) falls on Wednesday. The em
ployee works 8 hours each day on
all 6 days Monday through Satur
day.
This employee would receive 8
hours at straight time for Mon
day, Tuesday, Thursday and Fri
day. He would receive time and
one-half for working on the holi
day, Wednesday. Under the new
policy, the time v^^orked on Wed
nesday would count in figuring
hours over 40 in the week, so that
by working 6 days he would re
ceive weekly overtime on 8 hours’
work. Altogether he would have 16
hours at time and one-half and the
other 32 hours at straight time,
making a total equal to 56 hours
at straight time.
2. If the facts in another case
are the same as above except that
the Wednesday holiday was Christ
mas, the employee would receive
double time for working Wednes
day, Christmas Day, time and one-
half for 8 hours weekly overtime
and 32 hours at straight time,
which is equal to 60 hours. This
comes about through the new
policy of paying double time for
hours worked on Christmas Day.
3. An employee is not scheduled
to work on Wednesday, Christmas
Day. He does work Monday, Tues
day, Thursday, Friday and Satur
day. He has more than 3 months’
service.
In the above example, the em
ployee would receive 8 hours
straight time pay for Christmas
Day because he has more than 3
months’ service and worked the
day before and the day after the
holiday, on which he was scheduled
to work. This 8 hours would count
in figuring weekly overtime be
cause of the new policy in this
respect. As a result, this employee
would receive 40 hours at straight
time and 8 hours at time and one-
half.
(Continued on Page 2)
Red Cross Bloodmobile
To Visit Plant June 16
The Red Cross Bloodmobile will
be at the Girls Club Tuesday, June
16 from 11 a. m. until 5 p. m. All
employees who wish to contribute
blood are asked to see their over
seer and sign a card to that effect.
Later a schedule will be worked
out by the Industrial Relations De
partment which will distribute
arrivals at the Bloodmobile as
evenly as possible throughout the
day of the visit. Thus, a minimum
of delay will be encountered by
contributors after they arrive at
the Bloodmobile.