Strike Scene Quiet Following Judge’s Warning To URW Union
5-6-67 [handwritten notation in top right]
NAUGATUCK—Picketing at all three Uniroyal plants here was quiet today, following two days of scuffles by police and striking members of the United Rubber Workers union. Small clusters of pickets, mostly women, were on duty early today at the footwear plant where near-violence erupted both Thursday and Friday mornings.
It is not known if today’s peaceful picketing is the result of normal weekend inactivity at the plant or the result of a stern warning issued to strikers Friday by Superior Court Judge Leo V. Gaffney.
The judge warned the union to refrain from violence and any interference with operations of the Uniroyal plant, pending Tuesday’s court hearing on an injunction petition to halt mass picketing during the strike.
The rubberworkers struck the nationwide chain of Uniroyal plants two weeks ago. In the two days of clashes between union members and police, 64 strikers were arrested on breach of peace charges. The clashes occurred as police attempted to aid management personnel enter the Central Office of the footwear plant on Maple St. and were the basis for the firm’s action is seeking a court injunction to end mass picketing.
Only hours after the injunction hearing, a group consisting of Mayor Joseph C. Raytkwich, Chief of Police Frank J. Mariano, Police Commissioners Henry Marlor and William Simmons and representatives of the union gathered in the mayor’s office.
Following the session, which lasted almost two hours, during which loud voices could be heard from behind the closed doors, no statements were issued and no comments were made.
Local 45 representatives said that they would leave the question of a statement to the discretion of Mayor Raytkwich, whose only comment was that the group had held “a round robin discussion.”
At about 1 p.m., only an hour before the hearing in Waterbury, police became involved in an incident with pickets who were trying to stop the passage of five railroad cars into a warehouse on Elm St. Several pickets and police were injured in the incident, and three were taken to St. Mary’s Hospital for treatment.
When the session during which pickets were warned against mass picketing had ended, an injunction hearing was set for 11 a.m. Tuesday.
During the injunction hearing, the union must show cause why an order restraining it from engaging in mass picketing should not be issued.
In the meantime the strikers have been cautioned against any incidents which would interfere with the company’s business, and against any type of violence.
“In the event there is any interference with the operations of this plaintiff’s (Uniroyal’s) business or any violence of any sort or nature between now and such time as the court rules on the conjunction application,” Judge Gaffney said, “then upon a showing of the facts, a temporary restraining order will be issued forthwith.”
In its petition for the injunction, Uniroyal claims union members have “engaged in mass picketing . . . intercepted and blocked persons who approached the plant and plant premises by foot and by vehicle, pushing and shoving such persons, kicking them, stepping on their feet, calling them names in loud and menacing manner…”
The strikers “have congregated in large and unruly masses,” the action says, in attempts to block entrance to or exit from the plant “by threat of force or violence” and have “obstructed the police in the performance of their duties and made the employment of force and large numbers of police officers necessary, resulting in breaches of the peace and creating an atmosphere of fear and tension…”
By reason of such “unlawful acts and threats,” the company claims, it “has been and will continue to be unable to perform functions vital to its operations . . . and will continue to be unable to handle contracts with its customers, among which is the Defense Department of the United States Government for items needed in national defense…”
The company wants the court to issue an order restraining the pickets from engaging in mass picketing, from blocking entrances and exits to and from the plant and “from in any way injuring, damaging or destroying its plant, machines, equipment or stock of materials on hand.”
No property damage was reported throughout the three days of mass picketing, and the object of pickets was to prevent white collar employes from entering the plant.
Despite pleadings and warnings from officials of Local 45, pushing, shoving and subsequent arrests punctuated the early hours of Thursday and Friday. Forty-three pickets were arrested after clashes with police Thursday, and another 21 were arrested Friday.
Union officials charged that the early morning incident Friday was deliberately provoked by the company, which had been taking pictures at the scene to bolster efforts to get the court injunction against mass picketing.