**Date:** 1967-07-15
**Source:** Waterbury American
—
AKRON, OHIO (UPI)–With| General — but two cents to less the nation’s rubber production down to 25 per cent of its total, negotiators for four major tire companies and the striking United Rubber Workers (URW) took a weekend break.
There was little hope a tentative agreement reached Thursday with General Tire & Rubber Co. would pave the way for a settlement between the union and Uniroyal, B. F. Goodrich, Firestone and Goodyear.
General Tire’s 3,000 idled workers could return to their jobs Sunday night.
A pay raise differential between the tire and non-tire workers appeared to be the major stumbling block in talks with Goodyear, the largest producer.
Tire workers averaged $3.58 an hour under the old contract and non-tire employes $2.69 an hour.
Goodyear offered a 43-cent-an-hour wage increase to tire workers — the same as
to non-tire workers.}
The tire workers’ increase would go into effect in steps of 15, 15 and 13 cents over a three-year period. A Goodyear spokesman maintained that although the non-tire workers’ increase was two cents lower, it would go into effect sooner and, in effect, eliminate the differential.
Resume Monday
A union spokesman called the offer “substandard.” It was the final offer when negotiations broke up for the weekend. Talks resume Monday.
Uniroyal, B. F. Goodrich, and Firestone have been closed the past 12 weeks. Goodyear was closed early Friday, bringing the number idled to 76,000.
The URW general agreement included a supplemental unemployment benefit plan that will pay a worker laid off 80 per cent of his salary.
URW President Peter Bommarito said the plan “Makes it possible for the blue collar worker to plan his family expenditures for months ahead.”
The rubber strike appeared to pose no immediate threat to the automobile industry.
Auto factories one-by-one are halting production for the annual model changeover and large supplies of tires will not be needed until production of 1968 autos starts in August.