Many Footwear employes are
entitled to four weeks and in
some instances five weeks of
vacation. These workers are
permitted to take the extra
weeks at various intervals
through the year so as not to
conflict with the annual vaca-
tion shutdown.
Employes of the Chemical and
Synthetic Divisions now on
strike are allowed to stagger
their vacations. Accordingly,
the plant under normal condi-
tions do not close for any allot-
ted vacation-time as is the case
at Footwear.
Meanwhile, the negotiations
Rubber Workers, AFL-CIO and
Uniroyal have developed into a
cliff-hanging affair.
Reportedly, this past Friday,
the two teams were close to a
settlement on a new master
contract. However a hitch over
some clauses reportedly caused
a new disagreement.
The decision of Firestone to
settle this past Thursday was
the signal for considerable op-
timism here. It was expected
that Uniroyal would follow not
only Firestone, but also Gen-
eral and Goodrich, the other
companies that came to an
earlier agreement with URW.
A reliable report has indicat-
ed that some problems with
Article 9 are holding up the
agreement on the new contract.
The article refers to working
conditions, notably speed-up
of production operations.
URW workers affiliated with
Uniroyal including those of the
three divisions here, Footwear,
Chemical and Synthetic have
the dubious honor of participat-
ing in the longest strike in the
history of the rubber industry.
The strike against Uniroyal
s now in its 94th day. Back on
April 21, union workers of Uni-
oyal, Firestone and Goodrich
egan the marathon walkout.
Since Goodrich and Firestone
have now settled, Uniroyal is
he only one of the three left
utside the fold.