Frank J. Mariano

Uniroyal Quiet After Flareup

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Uniroyal Quiet After Flareup

5-5-67

NAUGATUCK — After a Thursday morning flareup between police and pickets at the Uniroyal Footwear Division plant, in which 50 people were arrested on charges of breach of peace, the scene became quiet for the remainder of the day, even to the point that pickets permitted a postal shipment to leave the main warehouse.

Negotiations between top management and labor representatives continued during the day in Cincinnati without settlement, and at the end of the day, the rumored injunction being sought by management had not been received.

Police Chief Frank J. Mariano said Thursday night that he attributed the calm which prevailed after the clash to the “excellent cooperation” among those arrested, particularly to two high ranking local officials.

Chief Mariano said that he felt that the police force, under the leadership of Capt. Joseph Summa, had done “an excellent job” quieting things down, but that the job might have been more difficult ha d Local 45 Vice President Raymond Mengacci and Local 218 Vice President Cyrus Blanchard not cooperated as they did.

The actions of Mengacci and Blanchard, said Chief Mariano, “averted possible rougher incidents.” When the two vice presidents were arrested, he added, the peaceful attitude which they exhibited set the tone for the remaining pickets, who went quietly to the police headquarters.

At about 5 p.m., according to Local 45 Secretary Rita Ruggiero, a postal shipment was permitted by pickets to leave the main warehouse. Rumors that a shipment would be made by helicopter remained rumors, and no such shipment was made.

The scuffle in the early hours of Thursday morning brought out the entire police force, some of whom had had only a few hours rest before the call to return to duty.

In addition to the regular force, supernumerary policemen were called out to force their way through the 100-man picket line at the Maple St. gate, and provide a passage way for office and supervisory personnel. The office personnel eventually made their way in.

The first group, arrested about 6:45, had to be physically forced to the police station, across the street from the trouble spot. Only after Police Capt. Joseph Summa read the riot act in the state statutes over a bullhorn to the unruly crowd did the commotions begin to settle.

Women in the picket line and in the group trying to get into the plant began to cry as the tension mounted, and the evidence of possible physical violence rose. Police blocked off Maple St. to all traffic during the height of the scuffle.

Although police did not use clubs or other devices to restrain the picketers, several minor injuries were reported. One striker, Nunzio Finateri, 52, Union City Rd., was taken to St. Mary’s Hospital, Waterbury, where he was X-rayed, treated the scuffle, and complained of pains in his chest.

Several policemen and picketers were bruised in the clash, although there were no reports of medical treatment other than Finateri’s

At 7:45 a.m., when workers for the 8 o’clock shift began to arrive, a second outbreak flared up, but was quickly squelched by police.

Those arrested during the second outbreak did not resist being taken to the police station, as the first group had.

As to what would happen Friday, when office workers and supervisory personnel are to return to work again, Mengacci said, “We haven’t got the slightest idea. We have been conferring with our attorneys, and we expect to play it by ear as we go along. We have heard that we will be served with an injunction, but have not received any word to date.”

Strike Scene Quiet Following Judge’s Warning To URW Union

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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.

Pickets and Police Milled Around at the Gate to the Chemical Plant at Uniroyal in Naugatuck

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5-26-67

[IMAGE: Photograph showing pickets and police at a factory gate]

temical
ivision

UNIROYAL
U.S. RUBBER

MAIN
ENTRANCE

SALES INDUSTRIAL
CHEMICALS COATINGS
ORDNANCE TEXTILES

MANAGEMENT INFORMATION CENTER

PICKETS AND POLICE milled around at the gate to the Chemical Plant at Uniroyal in Naugatuck this morning after police got word of rumored trouble and sent a large group of officers to the area. Nothing happened, and non-union employes entered the plant. The company, meanwhile, was proceeding with plans to seek an injunction of mass picketing at the Chemical Plant by Local 218, United Rubber Workers, similar to the one at the Footwear Plant regarding Local 45. A meeting was held this morning in Waterbury Superior Court with Judge Leo V. Gaffney. —King Photo

Picketing

(Continued from Page One)

from airplanes and smother the Viet Cong?” he asked.

The union president said he resented the implication that he and his union were unpatriotic rising from the company claim that the production was needed for the war effort.

Rzeszutek said he was a veteran of combat and “had been shot up a few times” himself.

“I certainly don’t want our men to do without anything they need,” he said.

He said he could guarantee that not one thing had been shipped from the Chemical Plant to Vietnam.

Judge Gaffney on May 6 issued an order for a show cause hearing against Local 45 of the United Rubber Workers in connection with picketing at the Footwear Division, also in Naugatuck, but a hearing has never been held.

It has been continued twice and more continuances will be entered as long as the picketing remains peaceful, Judge Gaffney said.

Seeks Same Effect

He said he hopes the issuance of a show cause order against Local 218 will have the same pacifying effect on picketing activities at the Chemical Plant.

The United Rubber Workers has been on strike for five weeks.

Naugatuck Police Chief Frank J. Mariano and Capt. Joseph Summa were in the courtroom for today’s session but were not called on to testify.

A company official was quoted in Thursday’s paper as saying the operation of the plant by management personnel was for the production of some key items necessary to the Vietnam defense effort.

Management lawyer, Atty. J. Kenneth Bradley, Bridgeport, said today in court, however, that the production was “partially” for the defense effort and partially of items “for use in other parts of the country.”

He did not go into detail on the use of the items except to say the items “are not for use by ourselves.”

Judge Gaffney, in asking for an end to the picket line difficulties, said it was easy for him to understand them when it appears to union members that “someone is destroying . . . the right to work and live.”

“I trust we will never have a hearing” on the matter the judge said. He added he hoped he would not be forced to issue an injunction against the union.

Asks For Statement

Lawyer for the union, Atty. Daniel Baker, Stamford, advised Rzeszutek after the hearing to issue a statement on the company’s claims of production for the Vietnam effort.

Judge Gaffney commended the Naugatuck police for their handling of the picket line situation. He said the police were forced to make the arrests and were to be commended for doing their duty.

He said he hoped the order for a show cause hearing would act as a “restraining measure” and help to restore the good will between management and Local 218 that existed before Thursday’s incident.

Before this morning’s hearing, the scene at the strikebound Chemical Plant remained quiet as about 40 pickets circulated in front of the Elm St. gate in 40-degree weather. There were only two minor incidents, in contrast to the eight arrests there Thursday morning.

However, extra police were on duty as a precaution in the face of rumors to the effect that management personnel would not be allowed to enter the plant.

Although management personnel were greeted by name as they entered the plant, one man was challenged by pickets as he approached the line with a large briefcase under his arm.

Upon approaching the gate, he was instantly surrounded by pickets. After a few quick questions were asked, the man answered that the briefcase contained his lunch. The line broke and he was admitted to the plant.

Shortly after this challenge, one of the strikers spotted a car approaching the Elm St. gate. The driver was stopped while Rzeszutek criticized him for his actions Thursday when, according to Rzeszutek, the man drove the car through the line without slowing down.

PAPER MONEY

WASHINGTON — Paper bills cost the U. S. treasury about one cent each to produce.

Only about one woman in 250 is color blind.

Football Star

SEYMOUR—Nick DeFelice, a graduate of Derby High School who is now a lineman for the New York Jets team in the American Football League, will be the guest speaker at the second annual sports banquet of the Seymour Fathers Club Saturday.

Also taken to St. Mary’s Hospital, Waterbury, was Martha Jones, 40, 26 Sparks St., Waterbury, for treatment of a cut knee, she said she received during the pushing and shoving in front of the gate. Both are members of Local 45.

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Also taken to St. Mary’s Hospital, Waterbury, was Martha Jones, 40, 26 Sparks St., Waterbury, for treatment of a cut knee, she said she received during the pushing and shoving in front of the gate. Both are members of Local 45.

Another 150 supervisory personnel showed up for the 8 a. m. shift and were told by Capt. Summa to congregate on The Green on Church St. to await further instructions. In the interim, Mengacci, and Cy Blanchard, who is Local 218 vice president, met with Police Chief Frank J. Mariano and Police Comsrs. Henry S. Marlor, William E. Simmons and Paul Anderson to work out an agreement to let the supervisory employes into the plant.

Mengacci, addressing the pickets over a bullhorn, asked if they would allow all male supervisory personnel to enter the plant without incident.

His question was at first answered with a resounding “No.” However, the pickets were persuaded to comply with the agreement.

The men lined up, but about 50 women in the group departed for home on orders of Capt. Summa.

“It was a concession on our part.” William Fernandez, Jr., International representative for the union, said. “It was our last concession and I have told the Police Department there will be no more concessions,” Mengacci added.

“We’re not taking another backward step,” he said.

The entire regular force of 33

(Cont’d on Page 4—PICKETS)

Strike

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Strike–

Continued from Page 1

He ordered the pickets off the street.

Things were peaceful for about a half hour. Then the supervisory personnel started en masse down Maple Street to the main gate. The pickets quickly massed to block their path. The police moved in between. It was a tense few minutes until the company personnel were ordered back to the green.

After another conference it was announced that the union officials had agreed to allow the male employes to pass through the picket lines.

“Don’t let them pass”, pickets shouted. Mengacci then took the bull horn from Summa and appealed for calm.

The pickets then agreed to allow supervisory personnel to pass through in single file.

200 Cross Line

About 30 supervisory personnel remained in the plant overnight. They were joined by about 200 others who crossed the picket line this morning.

Two union officials helped calm the disturbance, which broke out about 7 a.m.. They were Mengacci and Cy Blanchard, vice president of Local 218, Chemical Workers of America.

They appealed to union members to allow supervisory personnel to enter the plant.

They told the strikers that more violence would force the Naugatuck authorities to summon the state police, who might use tear gas, riot guns and other weapons to restore order.

“The purpose of this appeal is to prevent violence,” they said. “We want to cooperate with the local police.”

Their appeal was credited by Naugatuck officials with averting further violence.

Police Chief Frank J. Mariano, Capt. Joseph J. Summa and Police Commissioner Henry S. Marlor told The Sentinel today that a more serious disturbance might have arisen had the union officials not appealed for calm.

Beacon Falls, site of a Uniroyal warehouse, remained quiet today.

Three locals of the United Rubber Workers, representing about 5,000 employes, have been on strike since April 21 as part of a nationwide walkout affecting 50,000 workers.

Tension among the pickets had grown during the week as a result of reports that Uniroyal planned to resume shipments of manufactured goods.

The shipments have not been resumed.

The Naugatuck Police Department pressed all available men into service, including supernumeraries. About 30 officers were on duty this morning.

Two persons were reported hurt in today’s near-riot — a woman with a knee cut and a man who said he had been kicked.

William Battles, 37, of 486 North Main St., Waterbury, was taken to St. Mary’s Hospital, Waterbury, by Naugatuck police ambulance to be examined for bruises. He was released by the hospital.

Newsman Felled

An Evening Sentinel photographer was knocked to the pavement. A second newspaperman was pushed.

Battles and three other strikers were charged with breach of the peace by assault. Seventeen others were charged with simple breach of the peace. All were freed in $200 bail each.

Just before noon today there were from 4 to 12 pickets at each of the seven plant gates.

Under a reported company-union agreement, male supervisory personnel were to be admitted to the plant. Women, except nurses, were to be excluded. Women who had entered previously left the plant without incident this morning.

Maple Street was closed by the police from 7 to 8:30 a.m. from Church to Maple Streets.

One hundred state police trained in riot control were at the Bethany State Police Barracks, ready to move into Naugatuck if needed. They were under the command of Command of Commissioner Leo M. Mulcahy. Two buses were standing by, ready to rush troopers to Naugatuck.

Strike

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Strike-

Continued from Page 1

Police Chief Frank J. Mariano
and Capt. Joseph Summa, in
charge of the strike detail.

They agreed that there should
be no further violence.

The Rubber Workers have
been on strike since April 21 as
part of a nationwide walkout.
More than 5,000 persons are af-
fected locally, and about 50,-
000 nationally.

Union Told To Stop Blocking Operations

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Union Told To Stop Blocking Operations

Dr. Bingham Resigns Post

Dr. Harold J. Bingham, who hired a landscape architect firm to do a study on state college needs which left Waterbury’s high priority out of the picture, resigned Friday as executive secretary to the Board of Trustees of State Colleges.

Dr. Bingham, who was stripped of his powers of fiscal independence after the Waterbury newspapers disclosed he had hired landscape architects to do a statewide survey of education needs, fired a blast at the trustees as he departed his post, charging them with trying to buy his resignation.

Proclaiming he is “not for sale,” Dr. Bingham charged that he’d been offered “a deal at a cost of $6,000 to the taxpayers of Connecticut.”

The deal, he said at a news conference in Hartford Friday, consisted of reassignment as a state college history professor at top salary for the job; leave of absence with pay, “I repeat, with pay,” until Sept. 1; and $500 travel expense.

“Ladies and gentlemen of Connecticut,” said Dr. Bingham, “Gov. John Dempsey, members of your administration and members of the board of trustees. I am not for sale.”

assigned to studying the state’s educational needs.

Early in February, investigation by the newspapers disclosed the firm which conducted the survey which Dr. Bingham said he couldn’t make public, was listed in the Boston phone directory as “landscape architects.”

It was disclosed also: That the Chamber of Commerce of Cambridge, Mass., had never heard of the firm; that the recommending agency, Educational Facilities Laboratories of New York City, knew the firm as “experts in campus planning”, but knew of no work done by the firm in the field of educational development; and that the day

(Cont’d On Page 2 —Bingham)

Rado Not Resigning From Post

NAUGATUCK—William C. Rado isn’t resigning after all as a member of the Board of Education, he said Friday night.

Rado had told a reporter ear-

NAUGATUCK— The United Rubber Workers Union has been warned to refrain from any violence or from interfering in any way with operations of Uniroyal’s footwear plant here pending a court hearing Tuesday on an injunction petition against mass picketing.

The warning was issued in stern tones by Superior Court Judge Leo V. Gaffney Friday after three hours of fruitless negotiations with company and union representatives in an attempt to reach an out-of-court agreement to limit picketing at the strike-bound plant.

The warning from Judge Gaffney followed in the wake of three days of clashes between police and strikers, during which 71 pickets were arrested on charges of breach of peace.

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

Uniroyal Injunction Delayed

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BEACON FALLS

5-10-67

Uniroyal Injunction Delayed

Superior Court Judge Leo V. Gaffney yesterday continued for two weeks the petition of Uniroyal for an injunction against the United Rubber Workers Union to restrain mass picketing at the strike-bound footwear plant in Naugatuck.

The company accepted the agreement suggested by Judge Gaffney “with the understanding that there will be no interference whatsoever with the company’s operations,” Dwight F. Fanton of Bridgeport, company attorney, said today.

Judge Gaffney, at a “show cause” hearing yesterday in Waterbury, siad he felt issuing a restraining order was not necessary at this time.

Judge Gaffney said he will be available should the situation change.

Union officials are to notify picket captains of the continuance.

While Gaffney heard testimony from both sides, pickets at the Borough plant remained quiet and small in number. This was in contrast to last week when pickets rioted for 2 days in opposition to the company’s plan to resume shipping.

Three locals of the United Rubber Workers, representing about 5,000 employes, have been on strike since April 21 as part of a nationwide walkout affecting 50,000 workers.

Judge Gaffney told union officials that it is their right to have picket captains use their powers of persuasion to prevent carrier drivers from crossing picket lines.

“But there is to be no loud or threatening language or bodily harm,” the judge said.

Present at Hearing

Present at the hearing were John M. Smith, plant manager; Thomas J. Nelligan, industrial relations representative, and Atty. Fanton.

Raymond Mengacci, William Fernandez and Daniel Baker represented the union.

Also in attendance were Naugatuck Police Chief Frank J. Mariano and Capt. Joseph J. Summa.

A check of local and area retail merchants showed no appreciable drop in business volume to date.

Mengacci told The Sentinel that the company offered a 12½ cent an hour increase for the tire workers and nine cents for other production employes.

It was not learned whether the offer was made before the strike or during the present negotiations.

Management would not comment on the statement, explaining there is an agreement between union and management that only joint statements are to be issued on the negotiations.

2 Unionists Help Calm Near-Riot

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2 Unionists Help Calm Near-Riot

5-5-67

Naugatuck police arrested 21 men this morning after the second scuffle in two days outside the Maple Street gate of the struck Uniroyal plant.

One man was taken to a hospital.

Officers of the striking United Rubber Workers of America, Local 45, were ordered to appear this afternoon in Superior Court, Waterbury.

They were to respond to an order sought by the company, directing them to show cause why mass picketing should not be prohibited.

The three officers of the Rubber Workers’ union summoned to appear are Raymond Mengacci, vice president of Local 45; Antoinette Zuccarelli, secretary, and Rita Ruggero, treasurer.

Forty – three strikers were arrested yesterday.

Today’s disturbance, like yesterday’s, broke out when pickets tried to prevent office workers and management personnel from entering the plant.

Women pickets shoulder to shoulder were on the north side of Maple Street. Male pickets were on the south side, also in tight formation.

Supervisory personnel milled around on the sidewalk on the south side.

When some of the supervisory employes attempted to enter after Capt. Joseph J. Summa read the “riot act” warning the pickets to disperse, the battling between police and pickets began.

The women pickets were singing. The baiting continued until Police Chief Frank J. Mariano arrived. He called the union and company officials together and they went inside the plant.

When they came out, Summa ordered all the company personnel to leave Maple Street and assemble on the nearby green.

PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 13

Management lawyer, Atty. J. Kenneth Bradley, said Friday that the production was ”partially” for the defense effort, and partially of items ”for use in other parts of the country.”

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Management lawyer, Atty. J.
Kenneth Bradley, said Friday
that the production was “par-
tially” for the defense effort,
and partially of items “for use
in other parts of the country.”

He did not go into detail on
the use of the items except to
say the items “are not for use
by ourselves.”

Naugatuck Police Chief Frank
J. Mariano and Capt. Joseph
Summa were in the courtroom
for Friday’s session but were
not called upon to testify.

In asking for an end to the
picket line difficulties, Judge
Gaffney said it was easy for
him to understand them when it
appears to union members that
“someone is destroying … the
right to work and live.”

“I trust we will never have a
hearing” on the matter, the
judge said. He added that he
hoped he would not be forced to
issue an injunction against the
union.

Judge Gaffney on May 6 is-
sued an order for a show cause
hearing against Local 45 of the
United Rubber Workers in con-
nection with picketing at the
Footwear Division, also in Nau-
gatuck, but a hearing has never
been held.

It has been continued twice
and more continuances will be
entered as long as the picketing
remains peaceful, Judge Gaff-
ney said.

Seeks Same Effect

He said he hopes the issuance
of a show cause order against
Local 218 will have the same
pacifying effect on picketing ac-
tivities at the Chemical Plant.

The United Rubber Workers
has been on strike for five
weeks.

Negotiations in Cincinnati,
Ohio, on the master contract re-
cessed Friday until Wednesday