**Date:** 7-24-67
**Source:** Unknown
—
NAUGATUCK – Despite settlement between the United Rubber Workers and three of the ‘big four’ in the rubber industry, negotiators were still seeking accord this morning between Uniroyal and the URW in Cincinnati, Ohio. Uniroyal and Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. remain the only firms who have not yet been able to reach an agreement with the URW. Talks reopened early this morning, according to a Local 45 spokesman here who was in contact with Union officials by telephone in Cincinnati.
More than $2 million in vacation checks will be distributed by the Uniroyal Footwear Plant Tuesday and Wednesday. Bargaining unit employes may pick up their checks at the Water St. gate between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.
The company Friday said that it would go through with it’s scheduled three-week vacation at the Footwear Plant, which will begin officially next Monday, whether a greement is reached before that date or not.
Locals in Akron and Miami, Okla., voted Sunday to accept a new contract from the B. F. Goodrich Co., bringing the 94-day strike, longest in rubber industry history, closer to an end.
Negotiations with Goodyear and Uniroyal did not arrive at a settlement hoped for during the weekend.
Some 4,000 URW members jammed the auditorium of Akron University to shout approval of the new Goodrich contract. Local 5 in Akron has 4,900 members, almost half of the 11,000 employes covered in the contract.
Voice Vote Approval
In Miami, where the Goodrich employes have been back working since Friday, Local 318 approved the contract by a voice vote. Other votes from other locals arounds the country were expected today at URW international headquarters in Akron. A majority of locals must ratify the contract before it is officially accepted.
General’s two tire factories, in Akron and in Waco, Tex., were expected back in full production this week, following the vote by Local 318 in Waco to ratify the contract Saturday. All 3,800 URW members in the General have approved the contract.
The settlements will all provide raises of 43 cents per hour to production workers, in steps of 15, 15 and 13 cents. The contracts will include a supplemental unemployment benefit plan giving laid off workers 60 per cent of their regular wages.
Under the old contract, tire workers averaged $3.68 per hour and non-tire workers $2.68. A pay raise differential between the two was eliminated in both the Goodrich and Firestone pacts. General employs no non-tire workers covered by the URW contract.
The settlements set an industry precedent by wrapping up wages, working conditions, pensions and benefits every three years, in separate contracts with separate expiration dates.