**Source:** Unknown
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UniRoyal workers, members of the United Rubber Workers Union Local 45, received word Monday from both the union and the company that indicates that both parties are miles away from a strike settlement.
From the factory manager of the local footwear plant, John M. Smith, the employees received a letter stating, “The strike need not have occurred. Prior to the expiration of the contract, the company proposed one of the largest offers ever made to our employees. It also proposed that our factories keep operating on a day-to-day basis under the contract while a new one was finalized.”
“Our company has bargained and continues to bargain in good faith. Its negotiating representatives are making every effort to establish a basis for settlement. The union has made only minor changes in its original demands which were beyond reasonable or justifiable limits for our highly competitive industry.”
Monday afternoon, President of URW Local 45, George Froehlich, conducted a meeting for union members to inform them of negotiation proceedings in Cincinnati. That was the first time the membership had been called together since the strike began.
Froehlich reported the negotiations as the “weirdest” he has ever been in since 1942.* He claimed that company officials were being “arrogant and reluctant” to settle the strike.
In rebuttal to Smith’s letter, he said that the company had not proposed working on a day-to-day basis until 15 minutes before the contract deadline. At this time, according to Froehlich, nothing had been offered or settled by or with the company.
He added that while union officials had been willing to negotiate on weekends, Sundays and even the Memorial Day holiday, the company officials were not.
Froehlich told the union members, that union officials were not bargaining for a “few pieces of silver.” The main issues, according to the president, concern “decent treatment of employees.”
The union members were informed that during the strike they are still covered by health and insurance benefits.