CHAPTER ONE - HEADING FOR THE FINISH LINE

  In September 2007 the bottom dropped out of the economy. A financial bubble had been created in the housing market and the bubble burst. Within four months I lost half of my 401K and the financial crisis was worldwide. To make matters worse, the decision was made to shut down the PSR or Passenger Steel Radial side of our tire plant. There were around 2000 employees at the Bridgestone-Firestone plant in Lavergne. By 2009 there were only about 500 of us left. They transferred me to the TBR, or Truck-Bus Radial side of the plant. I had been building passenger tires and now I would have to learn how to build tractor trailer and bus tires. Those tires of course are much larger and heavier than most passenger tires. I had been building tires on machines that were designed and built in the 1980's with robot arms that placed the tires on metal racks. Now I was building tires on machines that were designed and built in the 1960's.

 After removing the tire from the 0 Ring I had to manhandle it over to a large conveyor belt. My back and body hurt constantly but it was something one learns to live with. I didn't want to build truck tires but they would not allow me to transfer out of the department. There was a daily quota of tires that we had to build which was totally unrealistic. Most of the time in PSR I built my quota but I was rarely able to build it in TBR. I was 59 years old and nearing retirement. Because of the recession we dropped from 25.00 dollars an hour to 22.50 an hour and lost benefits. Under the new contract the company could hire people and start them out at 13.00 dollars per hour. Because of this they began doing everything they could to drive the older and higher paid employees, like myself, away. During my last year with the company I was written up 8 times. In the previous 21 years with the company I had been written up maybe 3 times, and they were all production related. Most of the write ups I received during my last year were for production, but I was even written up once for getting my arm caught in a tire machine.

 About a month before my retirement I was moved to a machine that I rarely worked on because my regular machine was down for maintenance. I was having a problem with the belt server on this different machine not retracting the material like it was supposed to. The rubber was very tacky, and would stick to the material on the drum, which caused bad jams. I had already called set-up several times to fix the problem. It was difficult trying to keep the material from sticking and at the same time moving my arm out the way before the tread server came down. My last tire for the day was nearly finished. After cutting the steel belts with my hot knife, the material as usual did not retract properly. This time I was too late getting my arm out of the way and the tread server came down and crushed my left arm between the server and the belt drum. I felt like I was caught in a vice and totally unable to move my arm. The pain was nearly unbearable. Luckily my right arm was free and I was able to pull the emergency rope. 

 A very loud buzzer alerted everyone around me to the fact that I was in trouble. Tire builders were running to my machine from all directions. They were also in a panic and didn't know what to do. Gritting my teeth in pain I told them to get this damn thing off of me, and I usually don't talk that way. It occurred to me after I was freed from the machine that all I had to do was reach down and collapse the belt drum and my arm would have slid right out. In my panic I wasn't thinking clearly, however. Suddenly, I saw one of the men who had trained me, run up with a steel bar and he lifted the tread server just enough that I was able to get my arm out. My forearm and wrist was flat as a pancake.

 Someone drove up with an electric cart and I was rushed up to the company clinic. Miraculously, nothing was broken, and no blood vessels were seriously damaged. The worst I got out of it was a bad bruise. About five years ago a man was killed while working on a machine that I was assigned to. He died when the upper part of his body was crushed in the tire machine. I had worked 22 years without getting caught in a machine at Bridgestone-Firestone and just a few weeks before retirement I managed to get caught in one. A few days after the accident I was written up for committing an unsafe act. The unsafe act I committed was the result of the company not fixing the machine so I could build tires safely. I saw many unsafe acts committed while working at Bridgestone-Firestone and they were routinely ignored. We worked on machinery that could kill a person very quickly and they were not forgiving when you made a mistake.

We had a supervisor named Bobby who was a total jerk. He was not only a jerk to me but pretty much everybody else. We had dealt with his abuse for years in PSR and because that side of the plant closed down Bobby was transferred over to torment us in TBR. He had always made a point of telling me to call him immediately whenever my machine went down for maintenance, or for any other reason. One day I went down for maintenance and I paged him to call me. When he called I told him I was down. His response was "so" and he hung up on me. About a week later my machine went down again. For the second time he said "so" and hung up again. I was mad and I called the shop steward to set up a meeting with the department supervisor. The department supervisor kept blowing me off so I thought of another idea. Once a week we were having a shift meeting with the department and shift supervisors. I would have my day in court one way or the other.

  During the meeting the department supervisor spoke for about 10 or 15 minutes about various production issues and other problems within the department. I waited patiently until he asked if anyone had any questions. Since I was the only one to raise my hand he called on me. I asked if he thought it was acceptable for Bobby to ignore me when I told him that my machine was down on two separate occasions. Bobby was standing behind me and people told me later that he turned white as a sheet when I said that. I got my meeting with Bobby, the department supervisor and the shop steward. Bobby humbly apologized to me which was a first. I had never seen him apologize to anyone. People came up to me later and and shook my hand for calling him out in public. This was shortly before I retired and the timing was perfect.

 I absolutely came to loathe my job at Bridgestone. When I was off it was hard to get that place out of my mind. All I did was dread the thought of going back to work. Everyday when I walked into the plant it would put me in a bad mood and I was always angry. My chance to leave came in 2010 when employees were offered a 25,000 dollar bonus for retiring early. I turned 60 on February 28th and this meant that I would qualify for my military retirement check along with my Tri-Care health insurance. Combined with my Bridgestone pension this would not be enough to sustain us. Hopefully, with a part time job we would be able to make it. If I had still been building passenger tires I feel certain that I would not have retired at 60. I would have at least waited until I turned 62 or even older. At 62 I would then be eligible for my social security. Working in TBR, however; I felt like I would die if I didn't get out of there. My retirement was scheduled for April 2010. On my last day I proudly wore a shirt that read " Take This Job And Shove It". I hated that job so much that to this day I avoid driving by there if I can help it. Occasionally I still have nightmares about that place.