Several Bata families have had successive members working for the Company since its very early days. They like Eas Tilbury so much that they want to maintain their service - it amounts to a tradition - with Bata.
One of them is the Goodson family, now consisting of a mother and two daughters, each in a different building. Two sons and another daughter, who used to work here, carried the association back several years.
Ethel Goodson (right) is the mother, and she works on the reconditioning table in the boxmaking department, where she is one of a team of five

women who are busy with stripping-knives and adhesive tape. They recondition hundreds of cartons a day, and maintain a complete service.
"I have been here six years," said Ethel to the Bata Record, "and have enjoyed every minute of it. I could not have better people to work for, or nicer people as workmates.
"When I decided to come to work, it was only natural that I should come to British Bata, as all my family had worked, or were still working, at East Tilburuy. My eldest boy, Leslie, started in the Company's early days and worked at East Tilbury and in the West Indies for several years.
"My younger son, Donald, was in the leather stockroom and my eldest daughter, Dorothy, worked here for several years until she got married. All of them told me what a considerate firm British Bata was to its workers, and I soon found that they were right.

"My second daughter, Pamela, has been here two years longer than me, and she likes her job. When my youngest daughter, Pauline, was old enough to work I was glad that she, too, decided to join us. I am proud to think that all my family worked here."Pamela (left) echoed her mother's enthusiasm. For the first six of her eight years service, she was on the top floor of the leather factory, machining various types of uppers. Lately she has worked on the ground floor, where she is on the channel-closing machine. she has handled several styles of leather footwear, and is recognised as a steady and reliable worker.
"I came straight from school," she said, "on the advice of my brother and sister, who were then working here, and was glad of my decision., What I like about the factory - at least, the part in which I work - is that it has such a cheerful atmosphere.

People are friends, not merely workers who keep themselves to themselves. I have made many friends since I was here. This friendly feeling makes happy workers, and happy workers, of course, give the best service."
Pamela is lively and cheerful herself, and ia an expert dancer.
Youngest member of the Goodson family, Pauline (right), is not yet 16, and has been at East Tilbury for 12 weeks - since she left Park Secondary School, Grays. She is in retail control, where she does clerical work in connection with turn-overs and bank receipts. A lively young worker, well liked by her companions, she is glad to carry the flag of her family still further along the Bata trail.
Pauline confesses - somewhat shyly - to being fond of going to the cinema, with the reservation that she also likes being at home.