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Floyd Taylor, Retired District 6 Staff Representative, Dies at 91
Floyd R. Taylor, who retired in 1973 as a CWA staff representative in District 6, died July 27 at the age of 91.
Taylor worked as an insurance agent, an installer with Western Electric Co. and a maintenance technician for Southwestern Bell before being hired by CWA in 1952 as a CWA representative in his home state of Arkansas.
He was only the second person to fill the job in Arkansas. Retired CWA Representative Bill Weeks, who succeeded him, described Taylor as “very dedicated to his work and the union movement.”
“Floyd was instrumental in bringing CWA to the forefront in Arkansas, and in welding a strong union movement within the Bell company there,” Weeks said, adding with a laugh: “He tied the management folks’ tails in knots sometimes. He could be a hard-nosed individual when he had to be.”
Mildred Place, secretary in the Arkansas office for 42 years, said Taylor was a strong workers’ advocate. “He was a person who couldn’t stand to see things that were wrong,” she said. “He wanted things to be right for people and he’d really take after them (management) if they weren’t doing what he thought was right.”
Weeks was president of Local 6508 in Arkansas, a Southwestern Bell local, when Taylor was its representative. “I was relatively new to it, and he helped me a great deal,” he said. “He’s the one who got me interested in going on staff.”
Taylor retired in Arkansas with his wife, Annie, who died several years ago. He is survived by a son, Bennie, of DeValls Bluff, Ark., as well as a sister, grandson and great-granddaughter.
Taylor worked as an insurance agent, an installer with Western Electric Co. and a maintenance technician for Southwestern Bell before being hired by CWA in 1952 as a CWA representative in his home state of Arkansas.
He was only the second person to fill the job in Arkansas. Retired CWA Representative Bill Weeks, who succeeded him, described Taylor as “very dedicated to his work and the union movement.”
“Floyd was instrumental in bringing CWA to the forefront in Arkansas, and in welding a strong union movement within the Bell company there,” Weeks said, adding with a laugh: “He tied the management folks’ tails in knots sometimes. He could be a hard-nosed individual when he had to be.”
Mildred Place, secretary in the Arkansas office for 42 years, said Taylor was a strong workers’ advocate. “He was a person who couldn’t stand to see things that were wrong,” she said. “He wanted things to be right for people and he’d really take after them (management) if they weren’t doing what he thought was right.”
Weeks was president of Local 6508 in Arkansas, a Southwestern Bell local, when Taylor was its representative. “I was relatively new to it, and he helped me a great deal,” he said. “He’s the one who got me interested in going on staff.”
Taylor retired in Arkansas with his wife, Annie, who died several years ago. He is survived by a son, Bennie, of DeValls Bluff, Ark., as well as a sister, grandson and great-granddaughter.