union

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.

by

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 sec-
ond outbreak did not resist
being taken to the police station,
as the first group had.

Two union vice presidents
were among the 43 arrested.
Raymond Mengacci, 47, 37 Fair-
child St., of Local 45, and Cyrus
J. Blanchard, 46 Hill Rd., of Lo-
cal 218 at the Chemical Plant
were arrested along with Clif-
ford Owens, 57, Wooster St., a
former Local 45 president, and
Fire Comsr. Jose Pinho, 37, 129
Aetna St.

Mengacci would not comment
on the arrests, but did say that
the union members “would com-
ply with the law. . .if an injunc-
tion is served on us.”

Rumored Injunction

As to what would happen Fri-
day, when office workers and
supervisory personnel are to re-
turn to work again, Mengacci
said, “We haven’t got the slight-
est idea. We have been con-
ferring 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 re-
ceived any word to date.”

A public relations agent from
the New York office, Frederick
Chapman, said today that no
word had been received on the
possibility of an injunction.

Chapman said that if the pick-
ets continued to prevent super-
visory personnel from entering
the offices, a restraining order
would definitely be sought.

The public relations agent cit-
ed an agreement between union
and management groups prior
to the strike, which stated that
supervisory personnel would be
admitted to the plant during the
course of a strike.

To get a restraint order, said
Chapman,, it would have to be
proved that pickets were pre-
venting supervisory personnel
from entering the offices.

Pickets

by

Pickets

(Cont’d from Page One)

lated among Uniroyal management, was neither confirmed nor denied by top level Local officials in Cincinnati.

The statement claimed that although Uniroyal had offered to continue negotiations on a day-to-day basis after the strike was called, the URW had turned down the offer, “with the result that 22,000 of our people are losing more than $500,000 per day in wages and benefits.”

The circular also stated that “although major economic proposals were submitted on April 12, the union did not present proposals on the labor contract until April 19, one day before the contract expiration deadline.”

It was further claimed that the union’s proposals were “unrealistic and prohibitive, and to date, (April 28) the union has made no changes in these demands.”

In Bristol, pickets appeared in front of the Uniroyal warehouse on Center St. Wednesday just after midnight when it was learned that management was going to try to ship from the local warehouse.

Three pickets took up their posts in front of the warehouse about midnight Tuesday and by the time mid-morning rolled around, there were 11. Early in the afternoon there were six.

Four members of management were in the office this morning.

Asked why white collar workers had attempted to enter the plant Tuesday night, Chapman answered that they had been instructed to get out shipments to critical customers.

by

Asked why white collar workers had attempted to enter the plant Tuesday night, Chapman answered that they had been instructed to get out shipments to critical customers.

He added that management had asked Local 45 for four men to help get the shipments out; the local turned down the request, he said, and some of the supervisory personnel was then sent in to get the shipments out.

A statement concerning the negotiations in Cincinnati, circu-

50 Arrested In Uniroyal Strike

by

50 Arrested In Uniroyal Strike

5-4-67 [handwritten]

By PATRICK KEATING
and
JAMES FLEMING
Register Staff Reporters

NAUGATUCK—Some 50 pickets were arrested this morning and charged with breach of peace following a near-riot with police at the Maple Street gate of the struck Footwear Division of Uniroyal.

The outbreak came after several hundred pickets barred the entrance to the plant to prevent management personnel from entering.

Several pickets required medical attention as a result of the scuffling and one, Nunzi Finatera, 45, was rushed to St. Mary’s Hospital, Waterbury, suffering from an apparent heart attack.

Capt. Joseph Summa, heading a detail of 25 patrolmen including regulars and supernumerary patrolmen — about half of the town’s entire department—issued a warning through a bullhorn to the pickets shortly before 8 a.m. telling them they were “guilty of unlawful assembly.”

Summa ordered them to remain silent and read the official riot act to the workers three times.

The policemen’s order was met with catcalls and as office employes attempted to cross the picket line, pushing and shoving broke out between police and pickets. Twenty arrests followed and when the fighting continued, wholesale arrests were made. It took police an hour to disperse the crowd.

All were brought to police headquarters across the street and released without posting cash bonds for appearance in circuit court in Waterbury June 8.

Among those booked was Raymond Mengacci, executive vice president of Local 45, of the United Rubber Workers which authorized the picketing. Mengacci charged, “Footwear management used poor judgment in the matter.”

He said an injunction should have been served on him to have the union desist from stopping office and supervisory personnel from entering the plant.

Mengacci indicated he would have obeyed an injunction and as a result the outbreak would not have occurred.

Later, at about 9:30 a.m., Mengacci returned to police headquarters with attorney Dan Baker, and they conferred with Chief Frank Mariano, Mayor Joseph Raytkwich and attorney Henry Marlor, chairman of the Town’s Police Commission.

Joseph Pincho, a member of the executive committee of Local 45 and a borough fire commissioner, was also arrested.

See UNIROYAL Page 2

[PHOTO CAPTION]: Arrested strikers are booked at Naugatuck Police Headquarters.
Register Photo by Photo by James Fleming

Reds At Marines

SAIGON (AP) — North Vietnamese regulars who streamed across the demilitarized zone recently locked with U.S. near the Laotian border today. Other Communist troops inflicted heavy casualties in an attack on a U.S. Special Forces camp six miles away.

As the ground war intensified in the northwest corner of South Vietnam, U.S. Air Force pilots trying to wipe out North Vietnam’s air arm hit the Hoa Lac MIG base 20 miles west of Hanoi Wednesday for the fourth

Strong Cor Would Cu

By WILLIAM E. KEISH JR.
Register Staff Reporter

STATE CAPITOL —A strong Corrupt Practices Act, which would curb the use of testimonial dinners and tighten up the method of reporting campaign finances, has been fashioned by Democratic leaders and is expected to gain a favorable report today from the General Assembly’s Elections Committee.

State Sen. J. Edward Caldwell, Bridgeport Democrat, confirmed that a substitute bill for one sponsored by Secretary of

Strike Benefits To Begin Today

by

Strike Benefits To Begin Today

NAUGATUCK—United Rubber Workers, Locals 45, 218 and 308, will disburse strike benefit checks Tuesday and Wednesday between the hours of 9 a.m. and 3 p.m.

Members of each local are asked to report to their respective local headquarters to receive the benefit checks. Those members who have either performed or made themselves available for strike duty are eligible for the checks.

Local 45, Footwear plant, will disburse benefit checks according to employe clock numbers as follows: Tuesday 9 a.m., clock numbers 1 to 3,000; Tuesday noon, numbers 3,001 to 7,000; Wednesday 9 a.m., 7,001 to 11,000; Wednesday noon, numbers 11,001 to 15,999.

[Handwritten notation in top right corner appears to read: “12-5-5” or similar]

Arrest 21 Pickets

by

Arrest 21 Pickets

5-3-67 [handwritten date in top right corner]

A potentially explosive situation between management and members of striking unions against UniRoyal was averted this morning as pickets allowed male management and office workers to pass through the lines into the Maple St. entrance to the Footwear Division.

The situation was not relieved however, before 21 more pickets, mostly all members of Local 45, URW, were arrested on charges of breach of the peace. They were cited at about 7 a.m. when a group of management personnel attempted to cross the lines.

A large group of office and management workers were later booed by strikers as they filed quietly into the gate on the south side of Maple St.

Raymond Mengacci, vice-president of Local 45, explained the situation to the strikers over a police department bullhorn.

He said the local police would be augmented by State Police if any violence ensued on the picket lines. He said State Police would have in their possession “riot guns and tear gas.”

Mengacci said he would leave the decision of what the strikers would do when management personnel came down Maple St. from The Green up to them. He explained, however, that any violence would lead to the participation of State Police.

Mengacci told the large crowd that he was due in court in Waterbury at 2 p.m. today to appear at proceedings in which UniRoyal is seeking an injunction regarding the amount of picketing.

Mengacci said the company wants to limit picketing to five persons per gate.

“If the company wins that match,” he told the crowd surrounding him on Maple St., “there’s nothing we can do.”

Some of his remarks were met with jeers from strikers who wanted to continue fighting management and keep them from entering the firm.

RAYMOND MENGACCI, vice-president of Local 45, URW, on strike against UniRoyal, Inc., explains today’s tense situation to pickets at the Maple St. entrance to the company over a Police Department bull-horn. Mengacci said local police would be aided by State Police “with riot guns and tear gas” if there is any violence as management and office workers file into the factory grounds. —(News photo by Jensen)

One man said, “Let’s make this our ‘Custer’s Last Stand.'”

by

One man said, “Let’s make
this our ‘Custer’s Last Stand.'”
A few others jeered the idea of
letting male workers inside.

Mengacci asked, “Do you all
want to go to jail?” The ques-
tion was answered by a number
of persons with a resounding
“Yes.”

When male management
workers started filing through
the gate, however, there were
no incidents except for scat-
tered booing. The long line
reached from the Maple St.
gate almost to Church St. inter-
section. Traffic had been
blocked off on the street.

Earlier, Factory Manager,

Please Turn to Page 12

Also at times they broke into song, singing “America,” “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad” and others. At one point they chanted, “You ran out of gas.”

by

Also at times they broke into
song, singing “America,” “I’ve
Been Working on the Railroad”
and others. At one point they
chanted, “You ran out of gas.”
Perhaps this was in reference
to the situation in the borough
about a year ago when local
police vehicles were grounded
for about 24 hours when it was
determined there was no funds
to purchase more gasoline for
them.

Whenever a person attempted
to enter the Central Office
Building, picketed soley by wo-
men, groups of men would come
to their assistance. There were
few instances where anyone
made the attempt and few in-
stances where anyone was suc-
cessful.

John Smith, was hustled into the Central Office Building by local police who pushed their way through a group of about 20 women pickets.

by

John Smith, was hustled into
the Central Office Building by
local police who pushed their
way through a group of about
20 women pickets.

Once safely inside, the women
resumed their circling in front
of the door.

At one point, they chanted,
“Talk it over, Blue-Coats, talk
it over” at a group of about 15
policemen standing a few feet
away.

Strike Benefit Checks Given Tuesday, Weds

by

Strike Benefit Checks Given Tuesday, Weds

United Rubber Workers local unions, Local No. 45, Naugatuck Footwear, Local No. 218, Naugatuck Chemical, and Local No. 308, Naugatuck Synthetic, will disperse strike benefit checks commencing Tuesday and Wednesday between the hours of 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Members of each respective local should report to their own local union headquarters for strike benefit checks.

Those members who have performed or made themselves available for strike duty will be eligible for strike benefit checks.

Local No. 45, Naugatuck Footwear, will disperse benefit checks according to employee’s clock numbers as follows: Tuesday, 9 o’clock numbers 1 to 3,000; Tuesday, 12 noon, No. 3001 to No. 7000; Wednesday, 9a.m., No. 7,001 to No. 11,000; and Wednesday, 12 noon, No. 11,001 to No. 15,999.

HOLDING THEIR hands up for silence, aids of Raymond Mengacci, with bull-horn, vice-president of Local 45, URW, stand beside their leader as he explains the strike situation to pickets.

by

HOLDING THEIR hands up for silence, aids of Raymond Mengacci, with bull-horn, vice-president of Local 45, URW, stand beside their leader as he explains the strike situation to pickets.

CY BLANCHARD, vice-president of Local 218 talked to his men who were assisting on the picket lines on Maple St. this morning while Ray Mengacci, vice-president of Local 45, stands by.

Handwritten notation in margin: 5-5-67

PICKETERS ARE shown at the police station yesterday morning where they await their turn to be booked for breaking of peace. Yesterday morning 43 persons were booked following incidents on the picket lines on Maple St.

by

8-5-67

[P]ICKETERS ARE shown at the police station yesterday morning where they await their turn be booked for breach of peace. Yesterday morning 43 persons were booked following incidents on the picket lines on Maple St. The lines were opened up to allow personnel to report | to work after a day’s vacation. UniRoyal sent the workers home Tuesday when the union refused to allow them through the line. However, yesterday following an early morning scuffle resulting in several arrests workers entered the building. —(News photo by Nichols)

UNIROYAL

by

UNIROYAL

(Continued from Page 1)

Mengacci, vice president of Local 45, United Rubber Workers, warned strikers that state troopers would be called if the office help were not permitted to enter the plant. He said, “The union had come to an agreement to let male office workers in, but 15 women office workers would have to go home.”

“No, no, we won’t let them in,” was shouted by many of the strikers. Mengacci warned there might be “bloodshed” it became necessary for the State Police to restrain the workers. One angry worker retorted, “Custer made his last stand; we’ll make it here.”

Mengacci said any violence would be useless, since the company was trying to get an injunction to prevent the pickets from blocking employes who wanted to enter the plant.

Cyrus Blanchard, vice president of Local 308 at the Uniroyal Chemical plant across town also pleaded with the strikers. The male salaried workers began filtering into the plant with little resistance at about 8 a.m., although some were bumped as they passed pickets. The women workers had already started home and did not try come in with the men.

The scene then quieted, though the pickets and other striking employes maintained their vigil outside the gates.

Seventeen of the 21 arrested today were charged with breach of the peace and were released on cash bonds of $150 each, posted by union officials. On Thursday, arrested employes were freed without posting bond.

In contrast to Thursday, when all of those arrested walked over to the police station a block away, today four had to be dragged, although most went quietly. The four were charged with breach of the peace by assault, and their bonds were $200 each.

Mengacci and William Fernandes, a union representative, will appear in Superior Court this afternoon, when the company seeks to obtain a restraining order.

The strike is in now its 15th day. Negotiations are being conducted on a national level in Cincinnati where issues involve a guaranteed annual wage.

To maintain order, Chief Mariano has brought in added policemen on an overtime basis as well as supernumeraries. Many of the policemen involved in the fighting are related to the strikers and one patrolman said, “I have half my family working there.”

A number of the policemen complained about being caught in the middle between the union and office personnel.

Yesterday’s scuffling stemmed from union concerns that Uniroyal would try to ship merchandise from a struck warehouse. In the morning, pushing began as office employes tried to enter the building. Later in the day, a U.S. mail truck was blocked when it tried to leave the company grounds. The pickets converged on it but let it pass after a few minutes’ delay.

William Battles of Waterbury is dragged away from the Maple Street plant at Uniroyal by police after fighting broke out there today when strikers prevented office employes from crossing picket lines.

by

5-5-67

William Battles of Waterbury is dragged away from the Maple Street plant at Uniroyal by police after fighting broke out there today when strikers prevented office employes from crossing picket lines. Battles, who was charged with breach of peace by assault, was later taken to St. Mary’s Hospital, Waterbury, where he was treated and released.

After the big rush to open the picket lines yesterday, calm was restored in front of the Central Office of UniRoyal

by

5-3-67

United States Rubber Company
Naugatuck Footwear Plant

SPEED
LIMIT
10

AFTER THE BIG RUSH to open the picket lines yesterday, calm was restored in front of the Central Office of UniRoyal.
A few pickets were left on duty and some interested strikers stand by to watch the activity at the gate across the street.
—(News photo by Jensen)

POLICE WATCH as pickets allow personnel to pass through the line at the Maple Street gate, yesterday. The line had been opened out shortly before the picture was taken.

by

POLICE WATCH as pickets allow personnel to pass through the line at the Maple Street gate, yesterday. The line had been opened out shortly before the picture was taken. –(News photo by Jensen)

IN SOLID MASS, non-union employes of Uniroyal Footwear Plant in Naugatuck head for work at 7 a.m. today, after assembling on The Green, in background. Police halted the crowd and sent back to the Green. The company proposed that the women be sent home and the male employes be allowed through the picket lines, but the union rejected the idea. It was shortly after that that violence erupted again.—Coviello Photo.

by

5-5-67

IN SOLID MASS, non-union employes of Uniroyal Footwear Plant in Naugatuck head for work at 7 a. m. today, after assembling on The Green, in background. Police halted the crowd and sent back to the Green. The company proposed that the women to be sent home and the male employes be allowed through the picket lines, but the union rejected the idea. It was shortly after that that violence erupted again.—Coviello Photo.

The others arrested were:

by

The others arrested were:
Vincent Albano, 40, 144 Division
St., Waterbury; Leo Klonis, 25,
92 Wilson St.; Henrique
Marques, 40, 197 Lincoln St.;
Gary A. McDonald, 20, 69 East
Clay St., Waterbury; Jerro Tar-
laglia, 43, 424 Lincoln St.,
Waterbury; Charles H. Tillot-
son, 44, 59 Meadow St.; Mario
Carneiro, 26, 18 Bridge St.;

Raphael Dangelo, 44, 41 Sum-
merfield St.; Adam Swierbitow-
icz, 41, 150 Prospect St.; Ralph
A. Marrello, 43 Long View
Terr.; Walter Nelson, 36, 39
Hackett St.; Bernard Borzino,
45, 190 Hewey St., Waterbury;
William Woermer, 47, Warren
Ave.; Joseph Marco, 27, 495
Cherry St. Ext.; William Cooke,
27, 28 Washington St., Waterbu-
ry; and Robert Sequenzia, 51,
440 South Main St.

Three women pickets who
were brought to the station were
released by police without being
formally charged.

One minor police casualty to-
day was Patrolman Jerry Siri-
ca, who was bitten on the finger
during the melee by an unidenti-
fied picket. The injury was not
serious and he did not require
medical attention.

Officer Robert Carriero
turned up for duty today limp-
ing from an ankle injury receiv-
ed in Thursday’s scuffle. He was
sent home.

Also complainnig from minor
pains from today’s pushing and
shoving were Patrolman Robert
Sawicki and Henry Kucinski.
Both remained on duty.

Today marks the end of the
second week of the strike as
negotiators in Cincinnati, Ohio,
failed to reach agreement on a
master contract covering Uni-
royal’s more than 20,000 union
employes in plants across the
country. Talks, however, are
continuing.

Pickets

by

Pickets

(Cont’d from Page One)

officers was on hand near the
gate, but wasn’t needed after
the 7 a.m. incident.

Fewer than 30 women office
employes left the plant at about
9:30 a.m. under another special
arrangement with Police Chief
Mariano acting as intermediary.

Fifty or more pickets had
been clustered by the office
doorway, but pulled back, leav-
ing just a few placard-bearing
women who marched back and
forth as the office help walked
out in two’s and three’s.

Fernandez said that the wom-
en hadn’t entered the plant this
morning and “I don’t know
when they went in or how long
they have been there.” Others
thought the women did go in at
7 a.m.

Divert Traffic

It was a balmy day as a
crowd of a couple of hundred
pickets gathered at the Maple
St. gate, while police diverted
traffic around Maple St. to Rub-
ber Ave. and Water St.

Mayor Joseph C. Raytkwich,
on an errand from Town Hall to
the fire station across the street,
shortly after the hubbub had
ended, was greeted with a cho-
rus of boos from the pickets.

He looked around, seemingly
startled. He was reelected only
Monday to his fourth term.

Police said all of the pickets
arrested today were released
without bond except four who
were arrested for the second
day in a row. They had to post a
$50 bond each.

These four are: Robert G. Irv-
ing, 23, 19 Lines Hill Ext.; John
P. Henao, 30, 194 Maple St.;
Ronnie J. Kezelevich, 23, 16
Melbourne Ct., and Nicholas
Cesarello, 53, 132 Norton St.,
Waterbury.

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.

by

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)

NAUGATUCK – Another 21 Picketing United Rubber Workers Union members were arrested this morning in the third day of clashes between police and strikers at the Maple St. gate of the Uniroyal footwear plant.

by

NAUGATUCK — Another 21
picketing United Rubber Work-
ers Union members were arrest-
ed this morning in the third day
of clashes between police and
strikers at the Maple St. gate of
the Uniroyal footwear plant.

Police first charged four of
the pickets with assault, but la-
ter dropped this to breach of
peace, the charge levied against
the other 17.

Union officials charged the in-
cident, at about 7 a. m. was del-
iberately provoked by the com-
pany, which had been taking
pictures at the scene to bolster
efforts to get a court injunction
against mass picketing.

The union leader, Raymond
Mengacci, vice president of Lo-
cal 45, said he has to appear in
court in Waterbury today at 2 p.
m. An injunction will be sought
by the Uniroyal firm at that
time.

Today’s flare-up came as 50
office and supervisory employes
showed up for the 7 a. m. shift.
Pickets ignored police warnings
to disperse and resisted efforts
of the officers to wedge into the
plant.

Riot Act Read

Capt. Joseph Summa, head of
the police detail, read the state
statutes’ riot act for the second
day. The pickets, however,
formed a tight line, refusing ad-
mittance to management per-
sonnel.

There was about 15 minutes of
pushing and shoving before po-
lice began making arrests. Most
went along with police willingly,
but three had to be carried and
one was dragged.

Police Brutality

“Police brutality” came from
a chorus of voices, predominant-
ly female.

As relative peace returned,
the supervisory and office em-
ployes went into the plant.
Among those arrested was Wil-
liam Battles, 37, 486 North Main
St., Waterbury, who lost his
shoe and some change in the in-
cident and was later taken to
Waterbury Hospital, complain-
ing of stomach pains. He told
authorities that he was struck in
the stomach.

LOCAL 45 Vice President Raymond Mengacci, with bullhorn, passes along company proposal to union pickets that male non-union employes be allowed into Uniroyal’s Naugatuck Footwear plant this morning. It was rejected. Police Capt. Joseph Summa is at left, and International Union Rep. William Fernandez, Jr., is in center, with hat and glasses, just behind Mengacci.

by

LOCAL 45 Vice President Raymond Mengacci, with bullhorn, passes along company proposal to union pickets that male non-union employes be allowed into Uniroyal’s Naugatuck Footwear plant this morning. It was rejected. Police Capt. Joseph Summa is at left, and International Union Rep. William Fernandez, Jr., is in center, with hat and glasses, just behind Mengacci.—Coviello Photo.

[Handwritten notation in margin:] 5-15-67

Single file, Uniroyal supervisory personnel are allowed to pass through picket line to enter plant this morning in Naugatuck. Union agreed to allow male employes to enter but women were to be kept out.

by

5-5-67

Single file, Uniroyal supervisory personnel are allowed to pass through picket line to enter plant this morning in Naugatuck. Union agreed to allow male employes to enter but women were to be kept out.

Picket Hauled Away By Cops

by

Picket Hauled Away By Cops

FOR THIRD DAY in a row, pickets at the Uniroyal Footwear Plant in Naugatuck refused to allow non-union employes to cross their lines into the plant. This morning, 21 were arrested, including this unidentified man being dragged up the street to Police Headquarters.—Coviello Photo.

[Handwritten note in margin, left side:]
6-5-67

Strike Violence

by

Strike Violence

Naugatuck police forcibly restrain picket (top photo) who attempted to prevent supervisory personnel from entering Uniroyal this morning. He was arrested and charged with breach of peace. Two persons were reported hurt in the near-riot, a woman with a cut on her knee and a man who said he had been kicked. Newsmen were also pushed. Twenty – one persons were arrested increasing the two-day toll to 64. In photo, right center, Rubber Workers Union veep Raymond Mengacci warns employes on picket lines that state police will be called unless violence ends. Policeman (lower right) escorts woman picket from in front of company. (Sentinel Photos by Cotter)

[Handwritten note in margin, left side:]
5-3-67

Strike

by

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.

For Second Day At Uniroyal Plant

by

For Second Day At Uniroyal Plant

5-5-67

Violence, which began Thursday at the strikebound Naugatuck footwear plant of Uniroyal, continued today as 21 arrests were made. At left, Raymond Mengacci, vice president of Local 45, United Rubber Workers, with bullhorn urges striking employes to allow male office workers through the plant gates this morning. At right, office workers begin marching toward the company gates after waiting on the Naugatuck Green while company and union officials conferred about allowing them to enter. Some 25 policemen rushed between them and the strikers to prevent fighting. (Story on Page 1).

Pickets Arrested

by

Pickets Arrested

5-5-67 [handwritten notation]

NAUGATUCK—Among those arrested by the Naugatuck Police during the near riot Thursday at the gates of the Footwear Division, Uniroyal, were:

Raymond Mengacci, 47, 37 Fairchild St.; Cyrus J. Blanchard, 45, 46 Hill Road; Clifford Owens, 57, Wooster St.; Jose Pinho, 37, 129 Aetna St., all of Naugatuck.

Also: Frank Rodrigues, 36, 119 Walnut St., Naugatuck; John A. Gandolfo, 36, Narcissus Road, Middlebury; Robert G. Irving, 23, 19 Lines Hill Road; Ronnie J. Kezelevich, 23, 16 Melbourne Court; Robert J. Mikulsis, 26, 29 Fern St.; Joseph J. Foley, 40, 199 Cherry St.; Michael Kalinoski, 49, 39 Fairchild St.; Franklin Mazuroski, 38, 63 Lester Drive, and Charles J. Butler, 49, Mulberry Street, all of Naugatuck.

And: John Sharkey, 37, 17 Martha St., Seymour; Donald Miles, 33, 84 Grand St., Seymour; Henry Hook, 37, 167 W. Church St., Seymour; Francisco Da Silva, 47, 20 Tolles Square, Naugatuck; Walter M. Scott, 36, 230 Pembroke Ave., Waterbury; James R. Dowling, 23, 87 Quinn St., Naugatuck; Guido Boschele, 56, Pond Hill Road, Naugatuck, and Albert Gomez, 38, 40 Cherry St., Waterbury.

James Faroni, 57, 39 Florence St.; Joseph A. Sciarretto, 46, 19 Baldwin St.; Carl Ostrom, 32, 223 New Haven Road; John M. Delcrosso, 41, 66 Greenwood St.; Harry C. Chofey, 42, 13 Surrey Drive; Thomas Lagonick, 51, Candee Road, all of Naugatuck.

And: William D. Mariano, 52, 31 Yale Ave., Middlebury; John Brazil, 43, 51 Alma St.; John Dillon, 57, 149 Wedgewood Drive; John Henao, 30, 194 Maple St., all of Naugatuck; George Petro, 30, Bradley Lane, Prospect; Nicholas Cesarello, 53, 132 Norton St., Waterbury; Lee Mattocks, 37, 18 Winchester St., Waterbury, and Joseph J. Kaczkowski, 57, 106 Morris St., Naugatuck.

Alexander Zdonick, 41, 57 Johnson St.; Harold Soucie, 40, 376 N. Main St.; John Cariello, 37, 19 Baldwin

rahan, 29, 21 Elmwood St.; Austin C. Cross, 46, 18 Lynn Circle; Earl C. Matthews, 34, 8 Pond St., all of Naugatuck; Ernest Kinsey, 31, 79 Dikeman St., Waterbury, and George C. Sporbert, 34, 19 Goos St., Waterbury.

The arrested men, all members of the United Rubber Workers Union, AFL-CIO, were released without bond and will appear in the Waterbury Circuit Court, June 8.

Hugh R. Ga-

Safety from the middle of the tracks.

by

safety from the middle of the
tracks.

Mario Carneiro suffered two
fractured ribs and Robert Se-
quenzia was heavily bruised by
a brush with the cars. Both
were treated at St. Mary’s Hos-
pital in Waterbury and dis-
charged.

It is expected the union will
continue to picket the factory
over the weekend. However,
union officials said, they would
obey the restraining order as to
conduct of picket lines.

Meanwhile in Cincinnati, the
negotiations over a new master
contract will be recessed over
the weekend. The strike against
Uniroyal is now in its 16th day.

Strike Subject Of Meeting In Mayor’s Office

by

5-6-67

Strike Subject Of Meeting In Mayor’s Office

A “round robin discussion” behind the closed doors of the office of Mayor Joseph C. Raytkwich took place last night in the Town Hall between the Mayor, members of the Police Commission and representatives of the United Rubber Workers Union.

No statements were issued by any of the parties regarding items discussed, but it was apparent the current UniRoyal strike was the topic.

Present at the meeting were Mayor Raytkwich, Police Chief Frank Mariano, Police Commissioners Henry Marlor and William Simmons and union representatives.

It was reported that Raymond Mengacci, vice-president of Local 45 and top union man in the borough for the Local since its president, George Froehlich, is attending negotiation sessions in Ohio, did not attend the meeting.

The Mayor’s only comment following the meeting was that the group held “a round robin discussion.”

Judge Warns Union On “Interference, Violence” Here

by

Judge Warns Union On “Interference, Violence” Here

5-6-67 [handwritten]

WATERBURY – A warning to refrain from any violence and interference with the operations of UniRoyal’s Footwear Division was given yesterday to the United Rubber Workers (URW) Union by Superior Court Judge Leo V. Gaffney.

The court issued an order to show cause why a temporary injunction should not be issued in favor of the rubber firm. Judge Gaffney gave the union until 11 a.m. Tuesday to prepare its case.

“In the event of interference with the plaintiff’s operations at its plants in Naugatuck,” Judge Gaffney said,” or any acts of violence between now and the time the court rules on the company’s motion, upon show of facts, a restraining order will be issued forthwith.”

Atty. Daniel Baker, counsel for the URW, asked if this included “peaceful picketing.”

Judge Gaffney said it did not in any way restrict peaceful picketing.

But he admonished all those present to look up the definition of “peaceful picketing.”

Atty. Edgar Bassick represented UniRoyal in the proceedings.

Raymond Mengacci, vice-president of Local 45, was present with other union officials. Four or five UniRoyal executives attending the brief proceedings, led by John Smith, factory manager.

Set for 2 p.m., the court was not called to order until some

Conferences between attorneys and their respective clients and conferences between the attorneys and Judge Gaffney took up considerable time until the brief proceedings got underway.

In effect, the Judge gave union attorneys until Tuesday morning at 11 o’clock to prepare a case against the granting of UniRoyal’s injunction request.

His remarks about “peaceful picketing” and mention of “violence” in regard to the quick issuance of a restraining order

brought to mind to those present the more than 60 arrests and scuffling that has gone on in the past three days at the Footwear Division in the borough.

UniRoyal attorneys sought the injunction on the grounds that union members have “engaged in mass picketing…intercepted and blocked persons who approached the plant and plant premises by foot or by vehicle, pushing and shoving such persons, kicking them, stepping on their feet, calling them names in loud and menacing manners.”

The strikers “have congregated in large and unruly masses 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 rubber firm wanted the

Train Tragedy Narrowly Averted

A number of pickets and police at a gate of UniRoyal, Inc., on Elm St. narrowly missed being struck by a train backing into the firm’s warehouse yesterday afternoon.

Policemen came close to being hit by the train, apparently operated by supervisory personnel of the New Haven Railroad.

A number of pickets blocking the tracks of the railroad apparently thought the train was going to stop when the end boxcar reached the picket line. Police on duty also apparently were of the opinion the train would stop.

As the train drew close to the pickets, police moved in to move them aside and allow the train to pass. Some of them with their backs to the moving train narrowly missed being hit, as well as pickets.

At least one person was slightly injured in the incident.

than 60 persons arrested.

Pickets of Local 45, URW, had been notified of the attempt by UniRoyal to get some boxcars into the warehouse.

At about 1 o’clock, when the incident occurred yesterday, only a handful of pickets were at the warehouse. A call quickly went to union headquarters and the number of pickets increased considerably.

As soon as it was evident to the pickets the train was moving toward the warehouse, they began milling in front of the gate. Police had arrived at the scene only minutes before.

When the train went through the gate without regard for the men standing around it, police and pickets alike were astounded.

Everyone standing near the scene was visibly shaken by the incident. Some pickets said the train went by at an alarming

Please Turn to Page 10

Please Turn to Page 10

Train Tragedy

by

Train Tragedy 5-6-67

Continued From Page 1

rate of speed, considering the situation.

It was believed the train was being operated by New Haven Railroad supervisory personnel. The train had been seen stopping earlier on the mail line next to the UniRoyal warehouse.

Some men got off the train and others got on it. When the train backed into the UniRoyal warehouse siding, the man hanging on the side was dressed in a business suit and not normal railroad trainmen garb.

It was said later that the regular trainmen on the switch engine and four or five boxcars refused to operate the train through the picket line.

Pickets were visibly disturbed by the actions of the switcher engine and its operators. They gathered around the trainmen as they left the warehouse property after leaving off the box-cars.

Although there wasn’t any violence, there were cries of “Hope you sleep well tonight” and “Hope you are proud of yourself.”

Judge Warns

Continued From Page 1

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.”

NEW HAVEN Railroad switch engine enters warehouse property of UniRoyal, Inc., yesterday afternoon to unhook several box-cars. This photo was taken shortly after a number of pickets and police darted out of the path of the backing train.

by

5-6-67

547

NEW HAVEN Railroad switch engine enters warehouse property of UniRoyal, Inc., yesterday afternoon to unhook several box-cars. This photo was taken shortly after a number of pickets and police darted out of the path of the backing train. -(News photo by Piscitelli)

Calm Returns to Uniroyal After Warning by Judge

by

Calm Returns to Uniroyal After Warning by Judge

3-6-67 [handwritten notation at top]

Calm returned today to Naugatuck’s Uniroyal plant after a Superior Court judge said yesterday he would not allow violence to continue.

Judge Leo V. Gaffney told leaders of the striking United Rubber Workers in Waterbury that he would issue an immediate order prohibiting mass picketing if rioting recurred.

In picket-line violence Thursday and Friday 64 strikers were arrested.

Hearing Tuesday

Judge Gaffney ordered union leaders to attend a show-cause hearing at 11 a.m. Tuesday in Waterbury. They were directed to show cause why an injunction prohibiting mass picketing should not be granted.

Such an injunction has been sought by the company.

The judge said he would not tolerate interference with office or management personnel reporting for work, or with members of the public entering or leaving the plant.

If there is “any interference” with the operating of the Uniroyal’s business or “any violence of any sort between now and Tuesday,” the judge ruled, he would issue a temporary restraining order at once.

That order, like the injunction sought Tuesday by Uniroyal, would prohibit mass picketing, “circular picketing and picketing shoulder – to – shoulder or otherwise close formation” on sidewalks and roadways near Uniroyal.

The officers of Local 45 who appeared before Judge Gaffney were Raymond Mengacci, vice president; Antoinette Zuccarelli, secretary, and Rita Ruggero, treasurer.

Picketing Reduced

Picketing today was much reduced. Each gate at the Naugatuck plant was patrolled by two to six pickets — a great contrast with the mass picketing of yesterday and the day before.

After the picket – line violence of yesterday morning, when office and supervisory personnel entered the plant, there was relative quiet until afternoon.

Then there was a scuffle at the Elm Street gate when pickets tried to prevent five railroad cars from entering the plant.

Pickets and police officers suffered minor bruises, but there were no serious injuries.

It is believed that the company will load the cars with finished goods and attempt to move them out of the plant.

Union and town officials met last night at Naugatuck Town Hall in an attempt to forestall further strike violence.

They were Mengacci; Mayor Joseph C. Raytkwich, Jr., Henry W. Marlor, chairman of the Board of Police Commissioners;

PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 7

Strike

by

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.

PICKET HAULED AWAY — One of 21 pickets at Uniroyal Footwear Division plant in Naugatuck arrested for breach of peace Friday in second day of strike for refusal to allow non-union employes into plant is dragged up street to nearby police headquarters.

by

20

5-7-67

AP

PICKET HAULED AWAY — One of 21 pickets at Uniroyal Footwear Division plant in Naugatuck arrested for breach of peace Friday in second day of strike for refusal to allow non-union employes into plant is dragged up street to nearby police headquarters.

Union Told To Stop Blocking Operations

by

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

Order Returns To Naugatuck Uniroyal Strike

by

Order Returns To Naugatuck Uniroyal Strike

By PATRICK KEATING
Register Staff Reporter

NAUGATUCK —Peace and order, conspicuous by its absence during strike demonstrations here Thursday and Friday, which resulted in wholesale arrests, returned once more as the strike by the United Rubber Workers Union against Uniroyal enters its 17th day.

The turnabout from an explosive atmosphere is attributed by both union and management officials to the successful application by Uniroyal in the Waterbury Superior Court Friday for a restaining order against URW.

The order as granted compels Local 45 of the Footwear Division to restrict the mode of its picketing and also desist from attempts to prevent management personnel, company trucks and other public conveyances from entering and leaving the factory.

The union’s insistence that management personnel be barred along with no shipping of company products during the strike touched off the distrubances that almost reached riot proportions on Thursday and Friday.

Union officials who were individually served with restraining order proceedings Friday night agree that they must abide by the court orders.

Start Monday

Accordingly, on Monday office help and supervisory employes will be permitted to cross the picket lines without any challenges. The same policy will be in effect as to entrance the departure of any trucks that might be transporting Uniroyal merchandise.

Members of the union were instructed Friday night on these privileges granted the company as a result of the order. They also were requested to abide by the court action.

The order should eliminate hard feelings that were aroused between the strikers and members of the borough Police Department. Some pickets required hospitalization and so did some policemen reportedly injured in the scuffling.

Charges have been hurled back and forth and there was a report Friday night that a suit may be levied against the borough by the union over a supposedly act of brutality.

Contract Talks

Meanwhile, forgotten in the rash of demonstrations was the progress, or lack of it, at the conference table at Cincinnatti where a new contract is being negotiated.

The talks were recessed for the weekend and will be resumed Monday morning. A contact at Cincinnati reported that apparently no great step was taken to reach an agreement.

In Naugatuck, the strike called April 21 has shut down operations at the Footwear, Chemical and Synthetic Divisions of Uniroyal.

And for union members, it means that they are now in the third week of a strike that has already cost them two full pay checks.

Finanical Aid

Some financial assistance will be forthcoming on Tuesday and Wednesday when Locals 45, 218 and 308 will hand out special strike benefit checks to their memberships.

The crippling strike has not only hit the union members hard but is also being felt by stores, restaurants, business establishments and tradesmen that rely on factory workers for much of their revenue.

The economic pinch has also hit the borough in an unusual way since its meter receipts have been greatly affected. Employes of the Footwear Division while at work use the all-day meters, costing 25 cents for an eight-hour period.

[Handwritten notation at top of page appears to read: “5/7/67”]

Uniroyal Pickets Quiet As Workers Cross Lines

by

5-8-67 BEACON FALLS

Uniroyal Pickets Quiet As Workers Cross Lines

Office and supervisory employes at the Uniroyal plants in Beacon Falls and Naugatuck crossed picket lines without incident this morning to go to work.

About 50 persons entered the Beacon Falls plant — the first to do so since the strike began April 21. Some 200 went into the Naugatuck plant. There was no violence or name – calling.

There were perhaps a dozen pickets on duty in Beacon Falls. Token picketing in Naugatuck was in sharp contrast to the mass picketing of last week.

Raymond Mengacci, vice president of Local 45, United Rubber Workers of America, told The Sentinel today that he had ordered his picket captains to permit no interference with persons entering or leaving the plants.

Warning Heeded

Union officials have said they would heed the warning given Friday by Judge Leo V. Gaffney of Superior Court in Waterbury against mass picketing.

A hearing will be held at 11 Court on Uniroyal’s application for an injunction to bar mass picketing and picket – line violence.

Meanwhile union officials announced that strike benefit checks will be available tomorrow and Wednesday.

Members of Locals 218 and 308 may get their checks between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. at their local headquarters.

Members of Local 45 will re-

ceive them on the following schedule at union headquarters: Tuesday morning, Clock Numbers 1, to 3000; Tuesday afternoon, 3001 to 7000; Wednesday morning, 7001,to 11000; Wednesday afternoon, 11001 to 15999.

Conditions Very Quiet Today In UniRoyal Strike

by

47.17

PICKETERS at the Maple St. gate of UniRoyal wore smiles this morning as they allowed white collar workers enter the plants without incident. Peaceful picketing was the order of the day, a far cry from the near riot conditions of Thursday and Friday.
—(News photo by Piscitelli)

8-8-67

Conditions Very Quiet Today In UniRoyal Strike

Peaceful picketing was conducted at the gates of all UniRoyal plants this morning as negotiations on the UniRoyal master contracts resumed in Cincinnati.

After Thursday and Friday mornings near-riot conditions on Maple St., management of UniRoyal went into Waterbury Superior Court Friday afternoon seeking a restraining order.

Judge Leo V. Gaffney issued a stern warning to the unions to cease blocking operations and allow the white collar workers to enter the plants. He continued the case until tomorrow to allow the union to prepare its case.

Raymond Mengacci, vice-president of Local 45, said he issued instructions to his picket captains to uphold the law and allow company personnel to pass through the lines.

Mengacci was at the Maple St. gates this morning to insure picketing remained peaceful.

Police relieved that the tension has eased, spent the morning assessing the situation and checking on damaged clothing and injuries received while trying to control the situation.

UniRoyal, along with the restraining order it is seeking, is asking $1 million in damages from the union as a result of the strikers’ alleged interference with plant operations.

The injunction request reads, in part, that “the plaintiff (UniRoyal) has been and will continue to be unable to perform functions vital to its operations ….”

Neither President of Local 45, George Froehlich, or its vice-president, Mengacci, have any comment to make on this claim of damages.

[Visible on picket signs in image:]
– UNITED RUBBER WORKERS ON STRIKE
– UNITED RUBBER WORKERS ON STRIKE

Peace Prevailing Today At Strikebound Uniroyal

by

Peace Prevailing Today At Strikebound Uniroyal

NAUGATUCK — An air of peace prevailed this morning at the strikebound Uniroyal Footwear Plant as company personnel entered the Maple St. gate office without incident from nearby picketing members of the United Rubber Workers, in contrast to clashes between the strikers and police during the latter part of last week.

Instructions for peaceful picketing were given to picket captains by Raymond Mengacci,

Naugatuck Valley

vice-president of Local 45, Sunday, in the wake of a stern warning from Superior Court Judge Leo V. Gaffney, Friday, to refrain from interfering in any way with operations of the Uniroyal Plant, pending a hearing on an injunction petition by the company against mass picketing. The hearing will be held Tuesday at 11 a. m.

Damages of $1 million are being asked b y Uniroyal management from the union as a result of the strikers’ alleged interference with plant operations. The injunction request reads in part that “the plaintiff (Uniroyal) has been and will continue to be unable to perform functions vital to its operations. . .”

No comments on t he company’s damage claims were made by Mengacci, who said he had not been aware of the subject and would have to wait until Tuesday’s hearing before making a statement. Local 45 President George Froehlich, also contacted Sunday, s aid he had “no comments.”

As far as it could be determined, this is the first time in which this large figure in damages have been claimed by the company during strikes within the past several years.

Talks on a new contract between the company and the union resume today in Cincinnati as the strike enters into its third week. However, Froehlich, when contacted Sunday, declined to comment on the progress of the talks between the union and management representatives.

Picketing at the two other plants of Uniroyal, the Chemical Division and Synthetic, has been peaceful from the beginning of the strike.

have gone back to their normal routine. The chief expressed his appreciation to Vice-Presidents Mengacci of Local 45 and Cy Blanchard, Local 218, for restoring peace and order to the picket lines. He also said he had the highest praise for his police staff during the crucial moments of the uneasiness that had prevailed between the pickets and police last week.

Strike benefit checks will be issued by the union Tuesday and Wednesday between 9 a. m. and 3 p. m. Members of each local should report to his local’s headquarters.

Those eligible are members who have performed or were available for strike duty.

Mayor Joseph Raytkwich said today that a special meeting will be held today at 7 p.m. by the Welfare Board to set up a policy for welfare benefits for those affected by the strike. Inquiries on benefits, he said, have been coming to his office and to the Welfare Department.

Mayor Frederick W. Palomba of Waterbury and First Selectman Norman W. Husted, Oxford, also have received inquiries on welfare aid, it was reported.

[Handwritten note at top: 5-9-66]

[Bottom partial text visible: Frank Mariano]

No Trouble Anticipated On Uniroyal Picket Line

by

No Trouble Anticipated On Uniroyal Picket Line

3-8-67

NAUGATUCK — Strike wrought negotiations on a new Uniroyal contract will resume this morning in Cincinnati, Ohio,

Naugatuck

and picketing will continue to be “peaceful” in front of the local plant, union officials reported Sunday.

While the nationwide rubber workers strike goes into its third week, pickets here are expected to take up a quiet watch in front of the Naugatuck plant, after a stern warning from Superior Court Judge Leo V. Gaffney to cease blocking operations. This order was issued after two days of heated exchanges and union arrests when white-collar workers tried to enter the plant late last week.

In response to the judge’s order, vice president of Local 45, Raymond Mengacci, said:

“We will uphold the law. We are not going to hold up company personnel. I issued these instructions to my picket captains today.” Picketing was peaceful Saturday, after the warning.

Local President George Froehlich said, when called Sunday, that negotiations on the contract will resume as usual at 10 a.m. today in the Netherlands Hilton Hotel in Cincinnati. He would not comment on the progress of the talks with management representatives.

An injunction request for the union to show cause why a restraining order should not be issued on mass picketing will be heard Tuesday morning by Judge Gaffney.

$1 Million Asked

Among claims on picketing restraints by Uniroyal management is the asking of $1 million in damages from the union as a result of the strikers’ alleged interference with plant operations.

The injunction request reads in part that “the plaintiff (Uniroyal) has been and will continue to be unable to perform functions vital to its operations. . .”

When asked Sunday for a reaction to damage claim, Mengacci said that he was not aware of the subject and would have to wait until Tuesday’s hearing before commenting. hearing before commenting. Froehlich said: “No comments.”

Arrest Driver

Police arrested a local driver

Sunday evening on the charge of failure to obey a state traffic control sign.

Arrested was Eugene Quint, 20, 24 Aetna St. Officer Henry Kuczinski issued the summons at 8:30 p.m. to appear at the Fourth Circuit Court Waterbury, June 12.

URW Vows Fight For Contract Goals

by

6, 1967

‘Realistic, Logical’: 5-6-67

URW Vows Fight For Contract Goals

Akron, O.—The Rubber Workers, on strike against three of the Big 4 rubber companies at 39 plants in 36 cities, have a bargaining program that is “realistic, logical and attainable” and the union will continue to fight to get it, URW Pres. Peter Bommarito said here.

Contract talks continued as 50,000 pickets kept marching at plants of Firestone, Goodrich and Uniroyal, formerly the U.S. Rubber Co., but no immediate settlement seemed in sight, the union reported.

The strikes started Apr. 21. Employees of Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., fourth major tire firm, continued to work on a day-to-day basis without a contract. Workers at a Goodyear hose plant in North Chicago, Ill., struck briefly, but returned to their jobs after visiting other Goodyear locations.

Meanwhile, a Goodyear progress report to company executives on the negotiations was made public. It said the company had offered a two-year package of 23.5 cents an hour for tire plant workers, 18 cents for others.

Firestone and Uniroyal acknowledged that they had made similar offers.

Bommarito had said previously, without spelling out the terms, that the wage offer was inadequate. He called the lower offer for non-tire employes “an attempt to divide the union.”

The Goodrich report said the firm had offered “liberal” improvements in the supplemental unemployment benefits (SUB) program, but Bommarito said the “offer” was in the area of a fraction of a cent.

The URW has asked the Big 4 firms to make the SUB program the base for a new Full Employment Earnings Program (FEEP) giving laid-off workers 92.5 percent of their regular wages. Bommarito put the cost of FEEP at 2 to 3 cents an hour.

Goodrich said it offered to give one-year employes two weeks of vacation. It now takes three years of work to get two weeks of vacation.

Management said it offered to make numerous changes in contract language, but Bommarito said satisfactory working conditions are a major objective of the strikers—perhaps more important than substantial wage increases, with neither yet achieved.

Talks have started between the URW and the General Tire Co., fifth major firm. The contract deadline is May 15 but no progress was reported there, either.

The companywide strikes are the first since 1965, when the Uniroyal chain was shut down for six days. The same firm was closed in 1959, along with Firestone and Goodrich.

Current strikes involve wages, vacations, holidays and working conditions. Agreements on pensions, health and welfare are up for renegotiation next August.

UniRoyal Seeks Injunction

by

In Superior Court Today

5-9-67

UniRoyal Seeks Injunction

Picketing remains quiet and orderly in the borough today as negotiations between the United Rubber Workers and UniRoyal continue in Cincinnati.

Four trailer trucks and four U.S. Mail trucks entered and left the Warehouse on Elm St. yesterday afternoon without incident. Eleven other trucks approached the gates and the drivers turned away without entering.

The first truck to enter the gates was from Darcey’s, a Waterbury trucking concern. The second truck from Wilson Freight Co. out of New Haven, followed by an Elliot Bros. truck from Waterbury. The last truck was rented from a local dealer by Lombard Bros.

The truckers who turned away from the gates were greeted with calls from the picketers, “There goes a good Teamster.”

Although the picketers moved from the gates to let the trucks pass by without incident, catcalls could be heard. The trucks moved in and out of the gates all afternoon.

The freight cars that were moved into the Warehouse Friday have not as yet been moved out.

Local management of UniRoyal went into Waterbury Superior Court Friday to seek an injunction to restrain mass picketing after strikers demonstrated last week and sought to keep white collar workers from entering the Maple St. gates.

Judge Leo V. Gaffney ordered United Rubber Worker officials to appear in court this morning at 11 a.m. for a show cause hearing on the injunction sought by UniRoyal.

At that time he issued a warning to the union to halt mass picketing. Since Friday, only small teams of pickets have been stationed at the gates. For the past two days, white collar workers have crossed the picket lines with friendly remarks exchanged between the two groups.

The injunction sought today would ban mass picketing, close formation picketing and marching in the vicinity of the UniRoyal plants.

Some 5,500 employes are entering their third week of strike. No information as to how the negotiations are progressing or what the issues are, that hold up agreement on the master contract.

8 Trucks Pass Through Uniroyal Amid Jeers

by

6—Waterbury Republican, Tuesday, May 9, 1967

8 Trucks Pass Through Uniroyal Amid Jeers

NAUGATUCK—A barrage of 19 trucks approached the Uniroyal warehouse gate on Elm St. during a three-and-one-half hour period Monday afternoon. Although 11 drivers turned away without entering, four trucks from private firms and four U. S. mail trucks passed through the lines of striking United Rubber Workers without incident, although catcalls could be heard.

Picket teams of approximately 13 people stood in front of the gate to halt the passage of the trucks, but quietly made way for those wishing to go in or out.

The relative quiet which pervaded the scene Monday afternoon may well affect the outcome of an injunction hearing scheduled for today in Waterbury.

Four freight cars, shoved into the warehouse Friday afternoon without stopping, are still in the warehouse, and according to sources are due to be shipped out, loaded, today.

During the period in which the trucks approached the gate Monday afternoon from about 1:30 to 5 p.m., negotiations were reportedly continuing in Cincinnati, although the negotiators could not be reached for comment Monday night.

The first truck to approach the gates, and the first to enter, was from Darcey, a Waterbury trucking firm. The second truck to enter was from a New Haven firm, the Wilson Freight Co. The Elliott Bros. Trucking Co. firm Waterbury and the Lombard Bros., who rented a truck from a local dealer, also entered the gates.

Most of those who turned away from large firms engaged in interstate commerce. When a truck from one of these outfits left, one of the pickets chortled, “There goes a good Teamster.”

Fur police patrols were at the gate at the time, under the leadership of Capt. Joseph Summa.

The scene Monday afternoon at the gate was in marked contrast to the clashes with police which marked the early morning hours of three days last week when pickets attempted to prevent white collar personnel from entering the Footwear plants on Maple St.

Following those three days of clashes, during which 71 pickets were arrested on charges of breach of peace, a hearing for the purpose of preventing mass picketing was held in Waterbury.

At that time, Judge Leo V. Gaffney issued a warning to pickets to stop mass picketing. Since that time picket teams have been small in number and management personnel has been allowed to enter the plants without incident.