Your Group Insurance and Pen
sion Plans are now better than
ever. You will want to read care
fully—and perhaps clip—the article
on this page which describes the
improved benefits.
Tir«$fon«
GASTONIA
The Safety Department an
nounces in this issue a big, new
Safety Slogan Contest. See next
issue for complete contest rules.
VOLUME II
GASTONIA, N. C., OCTOBER 10, 1953
NO. 18
Company Increases Pension And Insurance Benefits
■ ■ ' " ■■ ■
I
4.'. '"•**
at supervisors meeting—W. A. Karl, second from left, President of Firestone Textiles,
Congratulates J. V. Cairns following Mr, Cairns’ talk to plant supervisors at the Girls’ Club on Septem-
30, Mr, Cairns, of the Akron Industrial Relations Department, explained the improved benefits be-
put into effect in the hourly pension and insurance programs. Others in the picture, Industrial
.^^tions Director T. B. Ipock, Jr,, at left, and General Manager Harold Mercer, at right.
W. A. KARL, President of Firestone Textiles, announced several
important changes in the Company’s pension and group insur'ance
programs at the first fall meeting of plant supervisors on Wednesday
night, September 30. These changes, which provide increased
benefits to all employees, were explained in detail by J. V. Cairns
of the Akron Industrial Relations Department. General Manager
Harold Mercer presided at the meeting.
Sixty-three supervisors and
visiting officials from Akron at
tended the meeting which was
Employees In Service
Asked To Inform News
Of Change In Address
All employees in service are be
ing asked to advise the Firestone
News of any changes in military
addresses in order that they may
continue to receive this newspaper
as long as they are in sei’vice.
Families and friends of such per
sons may be of assistence in this
connection by volunteering change
of address information. Service
people who never worked at Fire
stone Textiles may get this paper
by having their parents or friends
who work at Firestone forward
their copies to them. For this pur
pose extra copies of Firestone
News are available for the asking
at the Firestone News office.
^Oiv Much Are Your Toes Worth?] Honors UN Secretary-General
Ask a group of men or women how large the payment of money
have to be before they consent to have a heavy weight purposely
'^Pped on their toes—a weight which would make sure of even
^^mporary fracture or mangling.
Would they accept $116, the
indemnity? $1,000? $10,000? $100,000? At what point would
consider the return worth the pain and probable loss of toes ?
There are a few who might be money-minded enough to consider
^ high price for their toes, but it is doubtful whether much en-
. ^siasm could be worked up for such an offer. Even if one agreed to
j|. ® his toes crushed for a consideration, if given a little time to think
it is quite certain he would back out before the day of execution.
f. ^’^yone who is not sold on wearing safety shoes, should think
'^usly about this.
Studies have proved that the majority of painful, disabling toe
’^les need never to have happened if the victim had only been wear-
shoes at the time of the accident.
^^^ony Echoes
^^creation Center Available For
^^ekly Community Sin ging
IF
Stt;
Your
ear detects the distant
“Sweet Adeline” on a
^^gbt, to be followed on
^isht by the clear and
of some good gospel
of the ^ vicinity of two
and interesting
the community. These
^ “Barbershoppers”
^^^^SQSA) and the
Gospel Singers” in
on Monday
o ® Band Room are the
of the Gastonia
Society for the
Encouragement
® Quartet Singers in
America. The group, consisting
largely of Firestone employees, is
under the direction of Clyde Moss,
assistant to the superintendent.
In addition to the chorus there
are two quartets in the local
chapter named, “Cotton Chords”
and “Tune Twisters.” Plant em
ployees in the two quarters are:
Clyde Moss, Jr., and Bob Hood,
with the “Cotton Chords”; Clyde
Moss, Sr,, Deuel Redding, and
James Moss, with the “Tune
Twisters.”
Both chorus and quartets par
ticipate in a number of community
(Continued on Page 2)
HARVEY S. FIRESTONE, JR., chats with Dag Hammarskjold,
Secretary-General of the United Nations, at a dinner held in Mr.
Hammarskjold’s honor, Monday evening, September 14, at the
Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York. Mr. Firestone was the pre
siding officer at the affair which was attended by over 1,000 people
including delegations from member United Nations countries and
top United Nations officials as well as such prominent Americans
as John D, Rockefeller, III; Henry Ford, II; Paul G. Hoffman;
Thomas J. Watson, Sr,; Thomas J. Watson, Jr.; Mrs. Wendell Willkie;
Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt; Ralph J. Bunche and Under Secretary of
Commerce Walter Williams.
held in the Firestone Girls’ Club.
Among the visitors, in addition to
Messrs. Karl and Cairns, were
F. B. Schell, N. E. Eisenhart,
G. A. Spencer and J. G. Stone-
burner, all from the Akron office.
Mr. Cairns, in making the
principal address of the evening,
stressed the value of daily on-
the-job contact between super
visors and employees as an ef
fective means of “two-way com
munications between manage
ment and worker, and an essen
tial link in the chain of good
employee relations.”
^ S:
A RESUME of the changes in
the hourly pension and insurance
programs follows: Minimum
normal pensions for employees
retiring with 25 or more years
of service will be increased from
$100 to $125 per month. Mini
mum normal pensions for em
ployees retiring with 15 or more
years of service but less than
25 years of service, will be in
creased proportionately.
The above amounts include the
primary social security benefits,
and will become effective October
1, 1953. The enlarged monthly
pension benefits cannot be paid,
however, until required govern
mental approvals have been re
ceived. The increase will also
apply to former employees who
have been retired with pensions
since the original plan became
effective, but no adjustment will
be made in the pension payments
which were made prior to Octo
ber, 1953.
Firestone Textiles employees
will also benefit substantially
from the changes which have
been made in the group insurance
plan. Effective November 1,
1953, insurance coverage for em
ployees only will be provided by
the company without cost to the
employee.
The present coverage for em
ployees will remain the same ex
cept that the hospital room and
board benefit of $10 per day will
be provided for a period up to
70 d^ys instead of the previous
31 days. Employees who wish
to carry insurance for their de
pendents will continue to make
the same contributions for de
pendent coverage. The hospital
room and board benefit for de
pendents will also be increased
to 70 days at no extra cost to the
employee.