**Source:** Naugatuck Valley
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An air of peace prevailed this morning at the strikebound Uniroyal Footwear Plant as company personnel entered the plant without incident from nearby picketing members of the United Rubber Workers. Clashes between strikers and police during the latter part of last week.
Instructions for peaceful picketing were given to picket captains by Raymond Mengacci, vice-president of Local 45, Sunday, in the wake of a stern warning from Superior Court Judge Leo V. Gaffney, Friday, to refrain from interfering in any way with operations of the Uniroyal Plant, pending a hearing on an injunction petition by the company against mass picketing. The hearing will be held Tuesday at 11 a.m.
Damages of $1 million are being asked by Uniroyal management from the union as a result of the strikers’ alleged interference with plant operations. The injunction request reads in part that “the plaintiff (Uniroyal) has been and will continue to be unable to perform functions vital to its operations…”.
No comments on the company’s damage claims were made by Mengacci, who said he had not been aware of the subject and would have to wait until Tuesday’s hearing before making a statement. Local 45 President George Froehlich, also contacted Sunday, said he had “no comments.”
As far as it could be determined, this is the first time in which this large figure in damages have been claimed by the company during strikes within the past several years.
Talks on a new contract between the company and the union resume today in Cincinnati as the strike enters into its third week. However, Froehlich, when contacted Sunday, declined to comment on the progress of the talks between the union and management representatives.
Picketing at the two other plants of Uniroyal, the Chemical Division and Synthetic, has been peaceful from the beginning of the strike.
Those eligible are members of the Local 45 and Cy Blanchqrd, Local 218, for restoration of peace and order to the picket lines. He also said he had the highest praise for the staff during the crucial moments of the uneasiness that had prevailed between the pickles and police last week.
Strike benefit checks will be issued by the union Tuesday and Wednesday between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. Members of each local should report to his local’s headquarters.
Mayor Joseph Raityloch said that a special meeting will be held today at 7 p.m. by the Welfare Board to set up a policy for welfare benefits for those affected by the strike. Inquiries on benefits, he said, have been coming to the Welfare Department and the Mayor’s office.
Mayor Frederick W. Palomba of Waterbury and First Selectman Norman W. Husted, Oxford, also have received inquiries on welfare aid, it was reported.