**Date:** 6-7-67
**Source:** Unknown
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NAUGATUCK- Mayor Jo-seph C. Raytkwich has been em-powered to seek the aid of Gov. John Dempsey in bringing about a settlement in the Uniroyal-United Rubber Workers negotia-tions.
The board, during its Tuesday meeting, unanimously passed Third Ward Burgess Edward McGrath’s motion seeking the governor’s aid.
The Republican burgess cited the “potentially permanent and serious effect” the seven-week strike could have on the econ-omy of the borough if it contin-ued any longer.
Following passage of the mo-tion, Mayor Raytkwich said that he would contact Gov. Dempsey “as soon as possible.” Although the governor c about a settlement, it is possible that he could persuade the two groups to settle.
Amid scattered rumors that a settlement could be effected Thursday, press services report-ed Tuesday that negotiations with three mao tire producers, including Uniroyal, were in re-cess until Thursday with the un-ion considering a three-year contract offer.
Attempts to contact union negotiators failed Tuesday. An unidentified person answering one negotiator’s telephone late Tuesday night reported that the negotiator was in a meeting and would be there “for several hours.”
A management negotiator contacted at the same time said that talks were recessed until Thursday, but not because the union was considering a man-agement offer.
He claimed that the URW’s legal counsel died Monday, and that many of the union mem-bers planned to attend the funer-al.
Press services reported that management’s offer of a three-year contract was made Mon-day by Firestone, Goodyear and Uniroyal, B. F. Goodrich made a similar offer Tuesday. Gener-al Tire and Rubber was expect-ed to make its offer later this week.
United Rubber Workers nego-tiators said the proposed new contract would give tire plant workers, who now average $3.30 to $3.60 an hour, a 38-cent hour-ly raise in three yearly steps–16 cents in the first year and 11 cents in each of the last two years.
Nontire plant workers would get 13-9-9, for a total of 31 cents. Company officials said their offer added up to 60 to 73.5 cents an hour, including fringe bene-fits such as pensions and insur-ance.
The union has separate agree-ments on pensions and insur-ance that do not expire until Sept. 15. The companies report-edly offered to increase their monthly payments into the pen-sion fund from $2.25 to $5.25 per employee, with commensurate increases in amounts paid re-tired workers.