ESTABLISHED 1881 86th YEAR (DAILY EDITION) NO. 208 WATERBURY,
Uniroyal, Union
CONN., THURSDAY, JULY 27, 1967 FORTY-FOUR PAGES 7c PER COPY 42c WEEKLY BY CARRIER
Reach Agreement
Wage increases over the period will total 43 cents an hour, with a 15 cent increase this year, another 15 cent hike on July 1, 1968 and 13 cents on June 30, 1969. Skilled trade employes will receive an additional 10 cents an hour this year.
Sources indicated that although the wage differential between tire and non-tire employes was not eliminated, the raises for both groups are the same.
The rubber workers have scored a “first” in major industry with the achievement of an 80 per cent guaranteed annual wage.
Although it could not be learned Wednesday whether the guaranteed annual wage agreement with Uniroyal was the same as that with B. F. Goodrich, Goodyear, General Tire and Firestone, if it is benefits would last 52 weeks for employes with five years of service, and up to four years for employes with 25 years of service.
Under the old contract, employes were guaranteed 65 per cent of their regular wages in the event of a layoff.
Company-paid life insurance will be up from $6,500 under the old contract to $7,500 under the new contract.
Hospitalization benefits under the new contract were doubled from 365 to 730 days.
Pension payments were increased from $3.25 to $5.50 per month for each year of service. Employes who retired after July
(Cont’d On Page 2 —Uniroyal)
Local Vote To Ratify Pact Due
By TOM NUGENT
NAUGATUCK — The longest strike in the history of the rubber industry headed toward a halt Wednesday at Uniroyal and United Rubber Workers negotiators reached a tentative settlement on a three-year contract.
Some workers are due to return to work today.
Ratification of the new contract is presently scheduled for Saturday at the high school, according to Local 45 Vice President Raymond Mengacci.
In the meantime, he said, the contract will be signed by both sides pending final approval by the three locals, 45, 218 and 308.
According to Uniroyal officials the new contract extends until April 20, 1970. Sources added that the contract includes a 90-day “umbrella coverage” on the pension and fringe benefit clauses.
In the past the union worked under a two-year master contract and a supplemental contract with pension and fringe benefits, which was due to expire Sept. 15.
The new agreement, said Uniroyal officials, will cost approximately 80 cents an hour and represents an average increase of more than six per cent a year for three years.
Disability pensions have been increased from $6.50 to $11 per month for each year of service. The only apparent economic difference between the Uniroyal agreement and that reached with the four other companies seemed to be the matter of sickness and accident benefits.
While the other companies set heirs at $60 per week for women and $70 for men, Uniroyal has set theirs according to an employe’s average earnings with a minimum of $50 per week and a maximum of $80.
Although the contract has not been ratified by union mmebers warehouse personnel have been asked to report today at the regular starting time.
The new contract has been four months in the making. The two groups sat down in March to hammer out what started as a master contract.
Exactly one month after negotiations started, the start of the strike took place April 21 when 21,000 Uniroyal workers, including almost 5,000 from the Naugatuck plants, joined strikers from Firestone and Goodrich.
Although there were a few brief incidents on the Naugatuck picket lines, on the whole the strike was quiet, and there were instances of cooperation between the union and management during the course of the strike.
One such instance occured when the union answered a request that oilers be sent into the plants to maintain the machinery. 7-27-67