7-11-67

Page 10 – NAUGATUCK NEWS (Conn.) Tues., July 11, 1967

---

Views Of UniRoyal

Continued From Page 1

Mont said his bank “is not pressing anybody to the wall. We go along with the circumstance. I expect some withdrawals — it’s property tax time now.”

Neil Stanley of the Naugatuck Savings and Loan Association says his bank is “endeavoring to accept partial payments on loans. There’s nothing much more we can do except sort of sympathize. People are making a very strenuous effort to stay current.” He said the bank has had “numerous small withdrawals from a large number of people.”

At one time, Naugatuck was among the three highest cities in the United States noted for its savings deposits in the city’s banks.

Frank J. Hayes, manager of the Household Finance Co. in Waterbury, says “People are hurting for money. A hell of a lot of creditors aren’t getting paid. It’s a little bit of a crisis. The strikers on picket duty get $15 weekly and there’s not much that can be done with that. It’s a tough situation. We’re not pressing anybody. You can’t get blood out of a turnip, that would be utter folly.”

James N. Greene, executive vice president of the Naugatuck Chamber of Commerce says, “business has dropped off, but there is no way of telling how much at this point. We know that it has dropped, strictly by word of mouth. The town is still in a healthy situation, because there are other major plants in and around Naugatuck, but we wish the strike was over. UniRoyal is a vital element in the economy’s health.”

Jean Gagnon, of Gagnon’s General Store, says 65 per cent of his customers are UniRoyal workers. “Business has dropped at least 25 per cent. We can’t take it too much longer. Last week, I had to cut credit to food items only. If the strike goes on another month, I’ll have to cut off credit completely, if I’m going to survive.

“We became participants in the Food Stamp program June 1 by necessity. I found that some of my customers who never qualified for stamp relief, now qualify. The program has, since the strike, been of some help to them and to us,” he said.

Holding Own

A hardware store manager, who did not want his store identified, says his firm “hasn’t been hurt too much. We supply all the maintenance stuff for the rubber company and, now, we’re not delivering anything — although the orders still come in. We’re holding our own,” he said.

Jack Smith, factory manager for UniRoyal’s Footwear Division, said “The strike has had an adverse effect on the local economy.” He said also, “We have customers who want to be serviced and they complain if they don’t get it.”

John Evans, factory manager, or UniRoyal’s Chemical Division says “The strike has been a hardship on a town with 5,500 employes striking out of a population of 20,000. But there’s been no local pressure either. We’re just sitting tight here and hoping Ohio settles it.”

September Impact

Ira Mackler, of M. Freedman & Co., a department store, thinks “the full impact of the strike will be reflected in the fall. I’m planning for a decrease. Actually, we’re playing it by ear. Payments are lagging. I’m surprised that the collections have not been as bad as they might be in view of the situation. We are extending extra credit to our people and working with them.”

In an editorial June 23, Frederick E. Hennick of the Naugatuck Daily News, said “It must be equally obvious to both sides in this dispute that there is a crying need to bring this strike to an end for humanitarian reasons, if for no others.

“Too many people are being badly hurt in this struggle which has now gone down in history as the longest rubber industry strike in the nation’s history — something of which neither side should be especially proud.”

One thing some residents with a historical bent seem to point to with pride is the city’s reputation as the birthplace of the rubber industry while Akron is known as its cradle.

It was here in 1840, beside the Naugatuck River which was to become the most polluted river in the United States, that Charles Goodyear developed the process he named for the Roman god of fire — vulcanization — giving birth to the rubber industry.

Most strikers seem to wish Vulcan would breath fire into the smoke stacks that stud the city’s skyline sending the reek of ammonia through the valley — an oppressive smell that would be welcomed because it would mean a return to normal.