URW

Uniroyal Talks Resume; New Accords Lift Hopes

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Monday, July 17, 1967

BEACON FALLS

Uniroyal Talks Resume; New Accords Lift Hopes

Negotiations were to resume today in Cincinnati between the United Rubber Workers, AFL-CIO, and Uniroyal in an atmosphere of optimism over recent settlements in the rubber industry.

Union agreements with two members of the industry’s big five — B. F. Goodrich Co. and the General Tire and Rubber Co. — have lifted hopes for an accord with Uniroyal, which has plants in Naugatuck and Beacon Falls. Uniroyal has been struck since April 21.

Negotiations were also to be resumed today by Goodyear at Cincinnati and Firestone in Cleveland.

The Goodrich company was ready today for a quick start – up of production at its nine plants in eight states after an agreement was reached in Columbus Saturday.

A tentative settlement was reached with General Tire Thursday in Cleveland.

Union members are expected to ratify both pacts in votes not yet scheduled.

Both the Goodrich and General agreements provide for a total of 43 cents in hourly pay raises-15 cents this year and again next year and 13 cents in 1969. There is an additional 10 cents hourly in the first year for skilled workers. Present hourly top scale is $3.88, the union said.

An increase to 80 per cent of normal pay for supplemental benefits to laid-off workers was hailed by Peter Bommarito, URW international president, as a “giant step forward in reaching the goal of the guaranteed annual wage.”

Judge Issues Injunction Prohibiting Uniroyal From Resuming Production

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Judge Issues Injunction Prohibiting Uniroyal From Resuming Production

7-17-67

Judge Issues Injunction Prohibiting Uniroyal From Resuming Production

A Superior Court injunction was issued today restraining Uniroyal, Inc., from resuming production at its strike-bound Footwear Plant in Naugatuck.

The order prevents the company from producing samples of its new line of footwear for distribution to potential buyers during the strike.

It enforces an agreement signed by the company and Local 45 of the United Rubber Workes Union April 18, three days before the current strike began. In that agreement the company said it would not perform any work done by bargaining-unit members by non-bargaining units members for the duration of the strike.

Judge Leo V. Gaffney said he was issuing the injunction in an attempt to forestall “acts of violence” by union members should the company be allowed to go into production with non-union help.

“If the company is not restrained from violating (the agreement),” the judge said, “all confidence (in the union) will be lost, its effectiveness as a bargaining unit will be destroyed and its control over its members will be lost, as well as any hope of restraining its members from acts of violence.”

As for the company’s claim that it would lose money through its failure to exhibit new samples to buyers, Judge Gaffney said “compare this with a destroyed bargaining unit which has enjoyed the trust and confidence of its members over a great many years.”

If the order had not been issued, Judge Gaffney said, the result “would necessarily lead to complete disillusionment of the union leadership by its rank and file members and would in-

(Cont’d on Page 8—Uniroyal)

Uniroyal 7-17

(Continued from Page One)

deed in the opinion of the court sound the death knell of its effectiveness.”

“Not to be overlooked is the welfare of the 3,500 members (of the union)on strike for 11 weeks, undergoing economic hardships and deprivations and being faced with a potential loss of their security,” the judge said.

“The injunction was requested by the union in June after the company announced that it intended to produce a total of 40,000 pairs of samples using non-union supervisory personnel. The company claimed that if it was not allowed to make the samples it would suffer “grave financial loss.” The union contended that any production would violate the April 18 agreement.

Injunction Against

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Injunction Against

7-17-67

Continued From Page 1

William E. Simkin, head of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, congratulated both Goodrich and the URW for completing what he called “extremely difficult negotiations”

He and Bommarito had assisted in the Goodrich negotiations in Columbus.

The Firestone Tire & Rubber Co., the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., and UniRoyal Inc. were scheduled to meet today. Firestone, Goodrich and UniRoyal were struck April 20, General June 21 and Goodyear last Thursday.

Goodrich President J. Ward Keener said the contract would mean price increases throughout the product line.

Forecast

UniRoyal Won’t Appeal Injunction Decision

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UniRoyal Won’t Appeal Injunction Decision

7-18-67 [handwritten]

BULLETIN

UniRoyal officials reported at noon today that the giant rubber firm had decided late this morning that it will not appeal the decision of Superior Court Judge Leo V. Gaffney to impose the injunction against the company.

A company spokesman said this morning that the Footwear Division of UniRoyal will appeal the restraining injunction imposed upon them by a ruling of Judge Leo V. Gaffney in Waterbury Superior Court.

The order issued by the court bars the company from producing sample shoes using non-bargaining personnel for work ordinarily performed by bargaining personnel.

The footwear officials and officers of Local 45 URW had signed an agreement April 18 in which the company agreed not to use supervisory personnel for work usually performed by striking URW members in exchange for an orderly shut-down of the plant and plant maintenance during the strike duration.

Local 45 claimed in Waterbury Superior Court that the company had violated this agreement when it started production on June 22; however, the company claimed during the hearing that the Union had violated the agreement when violence broke out at the gates the first week of May and the company no longer considered the agreement in effect.

Footwear officials testified at the hearing to the necessity for sample shoes to be produced for showing on the market by Aug. 1st if the company expected to compete with other lines. The company contended this was for the striking employes’ benefit as well as the company.

The local footwear plant is the only plant stopped completely from producing. Both the local Chemical and Synthetic plans are on limited production.

Vacation pay checks will be issued to employes of the Footwear plant of UniRoyal next Tuesday. It is expected that the company will issue a schedule later this week for employes to pick-up their checks.

UniRoyal negotiators will sit down at the tables again today in Cincinnatti. It is believed that the company negotiators and United Rubber Workers Union are not far from agreement and settlement may come at anytime.

AKRON, Ohio (UPI) — Talks were expected to resume today between the United Rubber Workers (URW) and the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. after mass picketing brought a day’s interruption.

Several hundred pickets who gathered at the Goodyear headquarters here dispersed after an injunction was issued in Summit County Common Pleas Court. It limited pickets to two at each gate.

A Goodyear spokesman said the firm had been assured salaried employes would be allowed to enter the plant today.

In addition to Goodyear, the URW was to continue to meet with Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. and Uniroyal, Inc.

Tentative settlements were reached last week with General Tire & Rubber and B. F. Goodrich, the first breaks in the now 88-day-old strike. The strikes idled 76,000 workers.

Firestone was the only company to meet Monday with the Union. It was reported to have placed the same offer on the bargaining table that produced the two other settlements.

The General and Goodrich agreements call for wage increases of 43 cents an hour over three years and a supplemental unemployment benefit

Please turn to Page 10

7-18-67 [handwritten]

program giving laid-off workers 80 per cent of their regular pay. Tire workers average $3.68 an hour under the old contract.

The URW was allowing maintenance and service workers to go back to work at the two General and nine Goodrich plants to prepare them for resumption of production. No date had yet been set for a ratification vote on the agreements.

A union spokesman indicated workers may return at Goodrich before the agreement is ratified.

Picketing In Akron Interrupts Resumption Of Contract Talks

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Picketing In Akron Interrupts Resumption Of Contract Talks

Picketing In Akron Interrupts Resumption Of Contract Talks

7-18-67 [handwritten date in top right]

AKRON, Ohio (UPI) —Talks were expected to resume today between the United Rubber Workers (URW) and the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. after mass picketing brought a day’s interruption.

Several hundred pickets who gathered at the Goodyear headquarters here dispersed after an injunction was issued in Summit County Common Pleas Court. It limited pickets to two at each gate.

A Goodyear spokesman said the firm had been assured salaried employes would be allowed to enter the plant today.

In addition to Goodyear, the URW was to continue to meet with Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. and Uniroyal, Inc.

Tentative settlements were reached last week with General Tire & Rubber and B. F. Goodrich, the first breaks in the now 88-day-old strike. The strikes idled 76,000 workers.

Firestone was the only company to meet Monday with the Union. It was reported to have placed the same offer on the bargaining table that produced the two other settlements.

The General and Goodrich agreements call for wage increases of 43 cents an hour over three years and a supplemental unemployment benefit program giving laid-off workers 80 per cent of their regular pay. Tire workers average $3.68 an hour under the old contract.

The URW was allowing maintenance and service workers to go back to work at the two General and nine Goodrich plants to prepare them for resumption of production. No date had yet been set for a ratification vote on the agreements.

A union spokesman indicated workers may return at Goodrich before the agreement is ratified.

“Samples” Made In Japan?

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"Samples" Made In Japan?

“Samples” Made In Japan?

7-18-67 [handwritten date]

A court injunction has been issued restraining UniRoyal, Inc. from resuming production of footwear at its strike-bound Naugatuck plant, thus enforcing an agreement between the company and the United Rubber Workers union which was signed before the current strike began.

The court has found for the union in this instance, partially on the ground that failure to restrain the company from resuming production would mean the loss of all confidence in the union . . . “its effectiveness as a bargaining unit will be destroyed and its control over its members will be lost, as well as any hope of restraining its members from acts of violence.”

The company cannot, as a result of the decision, produce samples of its new line of footwear for distribution through salesmen to potential buyers—which raises an interesting question.

If salesman cannot deliver samples, they will have nothing to sell. With nothing to sell, they are not going to be taking any orders. Without any orders, there isn’t going to be much work for the members of the United Rubber Workers when and if they finally get back to their jobs. It strikes us that this, too, might have a detrimental effect on the future of the union. A bargaining unit can be destroyed in more ways than one.

Has anyone on either side of the UniRoyal impasse attempted to reach a compromise on this matter of sample shoes? If the union will not allow the company to use supervisory help to produce the samples, might it not be logical for the URW to suggest that on a seniority basis a certain number of production workers would be allowed back to work to produce the vital samples?

From the company point of view, wouldn’t it be better to produce the samples now under any agreeable arrangement than to have no samples at all?

It would be of mutual benefit to both company and union if some arrangement could be worked out on this matter, without in any way affecting other issues in the current impasse.

Of course, UniRoyal could always go out into the open market and pick up “samples” with that “Made in Japan” label on them. There’s no shortage of those around.

After all, it’s generally accepted that the Japanese are pretty clever at copying American-made products of all kinds. Why not reverse the process?

Uniroyal Settlement Still Sought

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Uniroyal 7-19-67

Settlement

Still Sought

NAUGATUCK—Although there was no settlement Tuesday of the United Rubber Workers’ strike against Uniroyal, a union source said that union and management were meeting in small groups late Tuesday night.

The groups will meet as one today to resume large-scale talks in an attempt to reach accord.

In Akron, Ohio, talks between the union and Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. resumed Tuesday after mass picketing brought a day’s interruption.

An injunction was issued against the union in the Summit County Court of Common Pleas limiting pickets to two at a gate after several hundred pickets had gathered at the Goodyear headquarters gate.

Tentative settlements were reached last week between the union and General Tire & Rubber and B. F. Goodrich, the first breaks in the now 89-day-old strike.

Firestone reportedly placed the same offer on the bargaining table that produced the two other settlements.

The General and Goodrich agreements call for wage increases of 43 cents over three years and a supplemental unemployment benefits totaling 80 per cent of regular pay in the case of a lay-off.

No Appeal Scheduled By Uniroyal

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7-20-67

No Appeal Scheduled By Uniroyal

NAUGATUCK—Uniroyal, Inc., will not attempt to appeal to the State Supreme Court in an effort to overturn an injunction issued against the company Monday, an attorney for the firm said Wednesday.

In accepting the injunction, Uniroyal will not be able to produce sample shoes carried by salesmen.

Atty. Raymond E. Baldwin said Uniroyal officials agreed late Tuesday not to appeal the injunction which was handed down by Superior Court Judge Leo V. Gaffney at the request of Local 45 of the United Rubber Workers Union.

The order restrains the company from using non-union personnel for the production of sample footwear.

Meanwhile, B. F. Goodrich and General Tire prepared to call back 15,000 workers on the basis of tentative agreements reached Saturday.

Some 60,000 workers for Uniroyal, Goodyear and Firestone remain out of work as talks continue in the longest and largest strike in United Rubber Workers history.

Settlement Appears Close

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Settlement Appears Close

Naugatuck, Conn.

Established 1885
WEDNESDAY, JULY 19, 1967
12 PAGES

Firestone Next?—

Settlement Appears Close

AKRON, Ohio (UPI) — Observers looked for further breaks in the 88-day-old rubber industry strike today with attention focused on the Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. talks in Cleveland.

United Rubber Workers International President Peter Bommarito was in Cleveland to assist at the negotiations.

A Firestone spokesman said, “We’re hopeful something will come soon, but there have been no indications yet.”

Future settlements were expected to follow substantially the same pattern set in agreements reached last week with the General Tire & Rubber Co. and the B. F. Goodrich Co.

The agreements provided all workers an increase of 43 cents an hour in steps of 15, 15, and 13 cents over the next three years and a supplemental unemployment benefit plan that gives laid off workers 80 per cent of their regular pay.

The Goodrich agreement achieved a major union goal of equal raises for tire and non-tire workers, eliminating a differential in previous contracts.

The union was expected to ask the other companies to also eliminate the differential.

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. resumed talks with the URW Tuesday after mass picketing cancelled a day at the bargaining table. The firm Monday had refused to meet with the union until the number of pickets was reduced to comply with a restraining order.

UniRoyal, Inc., also resumed talks Tuesday with the URW.

URW Local 9 was to vote here today on the tentative agreement reached with General. No vote had been set by Local 312 in Waco, Tex.

Local 5 here scheduled a Sunday vote on the Goodrich offer and other locals at eight Goodrich plants around the country were expected to schedule weekend meetings.

Both General and Goodrich prepared to resume production. The URW permitted maintenance and service employes to go back to work before ratifi-

Please Turn to Page 12

Settlement Appears 7-19

Continued From Page 1

cation to prepare the plants.

The strike, which idled 78,000 men nationwide, was called April 20 against Firestone, UniRoyal and Goodrich; June 21 against General and July 6 against Goodyear, largest of the nation’s rubber producers. The walkout cut the industry’s production capacity to 25 per cent.

Ohio Talks Hold Key To Settlement

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Ohio Talks Hold Key To Settlement

Rubber Strike

7-20-67

Ohio Talks Hold Key To Settlement

Striking United Rubber Workers employed at the UniRoyal plants in Naugatuck are anxiously waiting news from Cincinnati. With two of the “Big Five” rubber companies settling their differences, local residents are hopeful that a settlement with UniRoyal will come next.

Although negotiators met yesterday jointly following several small group meetings Tuesday that lasted into the night, no immediate news of progress has been released.

Local workers eager for settlement are wondering about the annual footwear plant shut-down scheduled for three-weeks beginning July 28.

If the strike should end this week, the question now is when would the employes start back to work. Some have planned vacations that they feel can not be cancelled even though they have been out on strike for 90-days.

Negotiators were scheduled to meet again this morning at 9 a.m. A few issues are still to be resolved according to sources, and agreements must be stated in terminology acceptable to both the company and the union before settlement is gained.

AKRON, Ohio (UPI) — Signs of optimism were apparent today in the 90-day-old rubber industry strike.

There also were further signs of the walkout’s growing financial toll, as the B. F. Goodrich Co. reported its second quarter net income was down 92.5 per cent.

Goodrich and General Tire & Rubber Co. reached agreement with the United Rubber Workers (URW) last week.

UniRoyal, Inc., of Naugatuck, Conn., Firestone Tire & Rubber and Goodyear Tire & Rubber continued negotiations with the URW.

Among the hopeful signs was approval of the General three-year contract by Local 9 here. Despite a heated feud over the method of voting, the union’s executive board ruled Wednesday that a four-to-one favorable vote — First by a show of hands and then a standing vote — would be upheld.

Production in some departments at the General plant here resumed last midnight. The company said it expected to be going full steam sometime next week. Local 312 in Waco, Tex., will vote on the same agreement Saturday.

Akron Local 5 will vote on the Goodrich agreement Sunday and locals at eight other Goodrich plants also were expected to vote during the weekend.

Industry spokesmen reported growing hopes other settlements would come soon.

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Ohio Talks Hold Key

7-20-67
Continued From Page 1

At UniRoyal one official described it as an “optimistic but cautious” attitude.

Future settlements were expected to follow substantially the same pattern set in the General and Goodrich agreements.

The contracts provide all employes with wage increases of 43 cents over three years and an 80 per cent supplemental unemployment program.

The Goodrich agreement eliminated a pay raise differential between tire and non-tire workers and the URW was expected to ask the other firms to do the same. Non-tire workers were not involved at General.

Goodrich reported its net income fell to $1,007,732 or 11 cents a share from $13,403,086 for the second quarter last year. Sales for the quarter were off 10 per cent.

Goodrich was the first of the “Big Five” firms to release figures showing the nearly full impact of the strike. Goodrich plants have been closed for all but three weeks of the second quarter.

Firestone, UniRoyal and Goodrich were struck April 20, General on June 21, and Goodyear on July 6.

At its peak the strike had idled 76,000 men.

300 Rubber Workers Return to Jobs

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300 Rubber Workers Return to Jobs

Globe & Nation

7·20·67 [handwritten]

300 Rubber Workers Return to Jobs

AKRON, Ohio (AP) — About 300 General Tire & Rubber Co. workers went back on the job at midnight Wednesday, and the company said all of the remaining 1,500 employes who went on strike June 22 would be called in by Friday afternoon.

United Rubber Workers Local 9 by a 4-1 margin Wednesday ratified a new three-year contract at a noisy meeting attended by 1,100 members, Ray Campbell, local treasurer reported.

A ratification vote at General Tire’s other plant employing 1,250 at Waco, Tex., is scheduled for Saturday.

At B. F. Goodrich Co., where a strike of 12,000 United Rubber Workers rounds out its third month tonight, employes will vote Sunday on an agreement reached last Saturday.

94-Day Uni Royal

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behalf of that group.

94-Day UniRoyal

7-24-67

Continued From Page 1

Under the old contract, tire workers averaged $3.68 per hour and non-tire workers $2.68. A pay raise differential between the two was eliminated in both the Goodrich and Firestone pacts. General employs no non-tire workers covered by the URW contract.

The settlements set an industry precedent by wrapping up wages, working conditions, pensions and other benefits in single three-year contracts. Traditionally wages and working conditions have been negotiated every two years, pensions and benefits every three years, in separate contracts with separate expiration dates.

Goodrich Union OKs New Pact

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Goodrich Union OKs New Pact

7-24-67

AKRON, Ohio (AP) — Rubber workers in Akron voted overwhelmingly Sunday to accept a three-year contract with the B.F. Goodrich Co.

A spokesman for Local 5, United Rubber Workers, said the standing vote was “about 3,000 for and 25 against.” Goodrich has 10,930 union members in nine locals and the Akron local has about 4,900 workers.

If other rubber workers at Goodrich plants follow the Akron settlement, it will be the second ratification among the industry’s big five companies.

General Tire & Rubber Co. employes here and in Waco, Tex., have ratified a similar contract. The union has reached a tentative agreement with the Firestone Tire & Rubber Co.

A spokesman for Firestone Local 7 in Akron said a vote will be taken by members tomorrow night. It appears each of the 11 Firestone locals will set its own date for a ratification vote.

Meanwhile, talks between the URW and the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. and Uniroyal continue in Cincinnati. The two companies represent about 43,000 of the 71,000 URW members.

Uniroyal, UAW Still Carrying On Talks In Effort To Reach Accord

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Uniroyal, UAW Still Carrying On Talks In Effort To Reach Accord

Uniroyal, UAW Still Carrying On Talks In Effort To Reach Accord

7-24-67 [handwritten]

NAUGATUCK — Despite settlement between the United Rubber Workers and three of the “big five” in the rubber industry, negotiators were still seeking accord this morning between Uniroyal and the URW in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Uniroyal and Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. remain the only firms who have not yet been able to reach an agreement with the URW. Talks reopened early this morning, according to a Local 45 spokesman here who was in contact with Union officials by telephone in Cincinnati.

More than $2 million in vacation checks will be distributed by the Uniroyal Footwear Plant Tuesday and Wednesday. Bargaining unit employes may pick up their checks at the Water St. gate between 9 a. m. and 4 p. m.

The company Friday said that it would go through with it’s scheduled three-week vacation at the Footwear Plant, which will begin officially next Monday, whether agreement is reached before that date or not.

Locals in Akron and Miami, Okla., voted Sunday to accept a new contract from the B. F. Goodrich Co., bringing the 94-day strike, longest in rubber industry history, closer to an end.

Negotiations with Goodyear and Uniroyal did not arrive at a settlement hoped for during the weekend.

Some 4,000 URW members jammed the auditorium of Akron University to shout approval of the new Goodrich contract. Local 5 in Akron has 4,900 members, almost half of the 11,000 employes covered in the contract.

Voice Vote Approval

In Miami, where the Goodrich employes have been back working since Friday, Local 318 approved the contract by a voice vote. Other votes from other locals arouns the country were expected today at URW international headquarters in Akron. A majority of locals must retify the contract before it is officially accepted.

General’s two tire factories, in Akron and in Waco, Tex., were expected back in full production this week, following the vote by Local 318 in Waco to ratify the contract Saturday. All 3,000 URW members in the General Tire factories have approved the contract.

Some 17,000 Firestone employes, in 11 locals in nine states, were to begin voting on their settlement today.

A majority of the more than 75,000 strikers, however, are still idled. About 22,000 of them have been out since April 20th when Uniroyal was struck. The 21,000 at Goodyear did not strike until July 14.

A Goodyear spokesman declined to make any comment about what was holding up negotiations.

They were also taking place in Cincinnati.

The settlements, when they are acheived, were expected to conform closely to the pattern already set.

The three settlements will all provide raises of 43 cents per hour to production workers, in steps of 15, 15 and 13 cents. The contracts will include a supplemental unemployment benefit plan giving laid off workers 80 per cent of their regular wages.

Under the old contract, tire workers averaged $3.68 per hour and non-tire workers $2.68. A pay raise differential between the two was eliminated in both the Boodrich and Firestone pacts. General employs no non-tire workers covered by the URW contract.

The settlements set an industry precedent by wrapping up wages, working conditions, pensions and other benefits in single three-year contracts. Traditionally wages and working conditions have been negotiated every two years, pensions and benefits every three years, in separate contracts with separate expiration dates.

Quick End To Strike At UniRoyal Dimming

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Quick End To Strike At UniRoyal Dimming

gatuck, Conn. Established 1885 TUESDAY, JULY 25, 1967 14 PAGES Price Seven Cents

Four Down, One To Go

Quick End To Strike At UniRoyal Dimming

With four of the “Big Five” rubber companies settled with the United Rubber Workers Union, prospects for an early settlement between UniRoyal, Inc. and the URW don’t look particularly good today.

The annual three-week vacation shutdown of the UniRoyal plants throughout the nation begins Friday.

The firm began distributing vacation checks this morning to some 4,500 local UniRoyal employes who are members of Local 45, URW.

At the same time, UniRoyal officials are asking workers if they would be willing to work during the vacation shutdown, in the event the strike is settled during the vacation. It is not known what response the firm is getting to the request.

Many workers have scheduled trips during the vacation shutdown and won’t be available for work, should local production lines start up. For this reason, company officials are asking workers what week or weeks they would be available for work.

The company received cooperation from officials of Local 45. George Froehlich, president, is involved in negotiations in Cincinnati, Ohio.

A reliable source said this morning that apparently negotiations are being held up in Ohio on non-wage issues. UniRoyal said today that the firm “has offered the United Rubber Workers proposals which match the settlements achieved in their negotiations with Goodrich and Firestone last week.

“To date, the URW has not seen fit to accept the UniRoyal proposals and continues to press demands on a number of issues which involve the right to manage,” a high-level source said.

Although the company did not officially disclose the issues preventing settlement, one knowledgeable source said one of the issues is a demand by the union for a differential in pay increases for certain plants.

One plant is asking for a two-cent hike over that offered the other plants and another plant is seeking a one and one-half cent increase, the source said. Neither of the plants is local, the source said.

One of the main issues of the 95-day-old strike has been the union demand for the same hike for non-tire workers as tire workers. The above demand for a pay increase differential is in direct contrast to previous demands for the same pay increase for all workers, if the source is accurate.

URW International President Peter Bommarito is currently participating in the negotiations with UniRoyal in Ohio. He actively took part in settlements with the other members of the “Big Five” and his participation is thought to have hurried settlements in the other four firms.

UniRoyal, Inc. today issued a statement telling of diminished net profits of the firm due to the strike.

The strike, involving more than 70 per cent of the domestic operations of UniRoyal, Inc. which started April 21 and continues, caused net profit for the second quarter of 1967 to drop to $1,551,000, compared with $14,309,000 in the same period last year, a decline of 89.2 per cent, the company announced today.

Earnings for the quarter after provision for dividends on the preferred stock were two cents a share of common stock compared with $1.06 a share in the same quarter of 1966.

Sales for the second quarter totaled $321,375,000, which were 7.7 per cent lower than the $348,164,000 in the same quarter a year ago.

For the full half-year ending June 30, net profit was $11,100,000 or 53.9 per cent below the $24,061,000 in the first half compared with $1.75 a year earlier.

Sales for the six months came to $636,962,000, compared with $667,050,000 in the previous year, a reduction of 4.5 per cent.

Please Turn to Page 8

Goodyear, Union Agree

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Goodyear, Union Agree

Goodyear, Union Agree

7-25-67 [handwritten]

AKRON, Ohio (UPI)— Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. and the United Rubber Workers Union (URW) reached agreement on a new three-year contract Monday.

Goodyear is the fourth of the “big five” rubber companies to come to terms in the 95-day strike, longest in the industry’s history. Negotiations continued with Uniroyal Inc., which has 5,000 employes at plants in Naugatuck.

Financial terms in the settlement followed those reached in agreements between the union and General Tire & Rubber Co., B. F. Goodrich Co. and the Firestone Tire & Rubber Co.

Ratification votes on the Goodyear accord will be held Thursday.

URW locals in Woodburn, Ind., Miami, Okla., and Akron ratified the Goodrich contract Sunday. Reports on votes at seven other plants had not been received by the union’s international headquarters here.

The general pact was officially ratified Saturday when workers in Waco, Tex., added their vote of approval to earlier balloting by Local 9 in Akron.

Local 7 in Akron was to vote Monday night on the Firestone pact.

The agreements all give production workers hourly wage increases of 43 cents over the next three years. They also provide supplemental unemployment benefit plans giving laid-off workers 80 per cent of their regular pay.

Goodyear and Uniroyal employ the majority of the 76,000 men who were idled when the 94-day-old strike was at its height. Some 22,000 are to strike at Uniroyal and 21,000 at Goodyear.

Both General and Goodrich are in process of resuming production. Firestone hoped to begin preparations for start-up as soon as the contract was ratified.

Under the old contracts, tire workers averaged $3.68 an hour and non-tire workers averaged $2.68. A pay raise differential between the two was eliminated in the Goodrich and Firestone agreements.

Ratification Vote On Proposed Pact Set Saturday

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Ratification Vote On Proposed Pact Set Saturday

Naugatuck, Conn.

Established 1885
THURSDAY, JULY 27, 1967
10 PAGES
Price Seven Cents

Ratification Vote On Proposed Pact Set Saturday

Local 45 To Vote In H.S., 2:30 P.M.

By RUTH NICHOLS

At 8:45 last night the telephone call that has been awaited for three months came through from Cincinnati announcing the end of the UniRoyal—URW strike.

George Froehlich, president of Local 45, notified the local headquarters in Naugatuck that a tentative agreement had been reached, ending the record-breaking 97-day-old strike.

Negotiating sessions began at 10 a.m. yesterday and were conducted continuously through the day until an agreement was reached.

Membership of all three borough Locals began celebrating on receipt of the news. The around-the-clock pickets at the UniRoyal Chemical and Synthetic plants were called off the line and some tore up their picket signs in jubilation.

Warehouse employes at the footwear plant were called into work this morning with other workers being called back to their jobs as they are needed, a company spokesman said this morning.

Working on a list of names garnered earlier this week, the company will begin manning departments which are incidental to the starting up of production lines.

According to the company spokesman, there are many auxiliary departments which must be started first before actual production can begin.

A production line involving sample footwear for UniRoyal, Inc. salesman will be given “top priority,” the spokesman said.

Employes of the warehouse on Elm St. may report for work just as soon as possible, a Footwear Division management spokesman said today.

The firm asked employes Tuesday and yesterday if they would be available for work at any time during their vacations, should the strike end. The company had the opportunity to poll the workers as it handed out more than $2 million in vacation checks to the striking workers.

A spokesman said today the response was very good. About 1,000 employes signed up and indicated they would be available. More workers are signing up today, also, the spokesman said. The official said that about 25 per cent of those employes eligible signed up to work at some time during the vacation shutdown.

The official pointed out that any employe who has not worked at the firm long enough to earn a vacation may also sign up for work during the shutdown. They should report to the firm’s employment office.

Vice-president of Local 45, Raymond Mengacci, said this morning, “I want to thank all the members of Local 45 for

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PHOTO CAPTION:

REPARATIONS FOR getting UniRoyal, Inc., production lines back in operation were made this morning by officials of the local rubber firm and Raymond Mengacci, vice-president Local 45, United Rubber Workers. Factory Manager Jack Smith is seated. Standing, left to right, are Mengacci, Charles F. Welsh, general superintendent of fabric shoes sponge and shoe hardware, and Edmund W. Fossbender, general superintendent of the waterproof mill. —(News Photo by Baker)

Ratification Vote

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Ratification Vote

7-27-67

Ratification Vote

Continued From Page 1

their cooperation during this long, hard strike.”

Mengacci, weary from the long weeks in charge of the local’s headquarters in the borough, said that he was extremely happy it’s over and added that he hopes the membership turns out in a goodly number to the ratification meeting Saturday afternoon in the High School auditorium at 2:30.

Mayor Joseph C. Raytkwich, in a statement this morning, said he wished to thank the officials of all the unions for their cooperation without which serious incidents might have occurred. The Mayor is thankful no one was hurt during the long strike period.

Ronald Pohl, industrial relations manager of the Chemical Division of UniRoyal, said that some employes will be called back into work at 3 p.m. today and the company hopes to be back to normal by tomorrow.

Some employes have been called to start work at the Synthetic plant at 3 p.m. today. Local 308 has called a meeting for Monday at 7 p.m. in the Portuguese Club to vote on ratification.

President of Local 45 George Froehlich will remain in Cincinnati working on the agreement. Another session was called for 9 a.m. this morning when the negotiators began work on the wording of the agreement and proof-reading the final copy.

Union officials stated that they would allow the membership to begin work immediately instead of waiting for official notice of ratification. With 19 UniRoyal plants located all over the country, each represented by a local, it will take approximately two weeks for official notification of agreement from the International Union headquarters.

AKRON, Ohio (UPI) — The longest strike in the history of the rubber industry ended Wednesday night when UniRoyal, Inc., became the fifth major producer to reach agreement with the United Rubber Workers (URW).

The strike, which at one time idled 76,000 men throughout the country and raised fears of a shortage of tires for defense and passenger vehicles, lasted 96 days.

The agreements, all within the last two weeks, gave workers the largest wage and fringe benefit package in industry history.

A vote will be taken Saturday by 5,500 URW men in Naugatuck, Conn. where the record walkout halted production at three UniRoyal plants. It was expected that the Naugatuck members would ratify the agreement almost unanimously.

The UniRoyal agreement, stalled by diagreement on working conditions, followed the same lines as earlier agreements with General Tire & Rubber Co., the B. F. Goodrich Co., Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. and Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.

All production workers are provided wage increases of 43 cents an hour in steps of 15, 15 and 13 cents under the contract that expires April 20, 1970. Skilled workers receive an additional 10 cents per hour immediately. Under the old contract, tire workers averaged $3.68 an hour and non-tire workers $2.68.

The three-year contracts achieved two important union goals: elimination of a pay raise differential between tire and non-tire workers and a supplemental unemployment plan giving laid off workers 80 per cent of their average hourly pay. The plan is considered a major step toward a guaranteed annual wage.

The union also won increases in pensions and insurance payments from the company and other fringe benefits.

The General and Goodrich pacts have already been ratified and production was resumed. Votes on the Firestone and Goodyear are continuing and production is expected to start soon.

URW TREASURERS of two borough Locals go over some final figures this morning at Union headquarters on Rubber Ave. Art Calder, treasurer of Local 308, and Rita Ruggiero of Local 45 compare lists. –(News photo by Baker)

The U.S. Civil Air Patrol was organized as a division of the Office of Civilian Defense on Dec. 1, 1941.

Uniroyal Talks Still Going On

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Uniroyal Talks Still Going On

Uniroyal Talks Still Going On

7-26-67

CINCINNATI, Ohio—Although negotiations between Uniroyal and the URW continued until past midnight Tuesday, a top level union spokesman said that no settlement was imminent.

Asked if it was at all unusual that the groups should meet so late, the spokesman said “not at all—we meet at all hours.” The late talks, he added, were not to be taken as meaning that Uniroyal and the union were about to reach accord.

AKRON, Ohio (UPI)— Disagreement over local working conditions has prevented an end to the United Rubber Workers (URW) strike against Uniroyal, Inc., a union spokesman said Tuesday.

Uniroyal, which employs 7,000 at plants in Naugatuck, Conn., is the last of the “big five” rubber companies to remain shut down. Settlements with General Tire & Rubber Co., B. F. Goodrich Co., Firestone Tire & Rubber Co., and Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., have been reached in the last two weeks.

A Uniroyal spokesman said the union “continues to press demands on a number of issues which involve the right to manage.” The spokesman, who declined to elaborate on the demands, said Uniroyal had offered the 22,000 strikers proposals that matched the other strike-ending agreements.

The union spokesman said “the provisions under discussion may not have come up in the previous negotiations, but that is because they involve working conditions present only in this particular system.”

Union, Uniroyal Reach Tentative Settlement

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Union, Uniroyal Reach Tentative Settlement

Union, Uniroyal Reach

Tentative Settlement

7-27-67

Ratification Is Expected Over Weekend

AKRON, Ohio (AP) — The longest strike in the history of the rubber industry ended Wednesday when the United Rubber Workers Union and Uniroyal Inc. reached a tentative agreement at Cincinnati on a new three-year contract.

Previous settlements had been reached with other members of the industry’s “Big Five” and the Uniroyal agreement was in line with those settlements.

The agreements provide a wage increase of 43 cents an hour over three years, plus an additional 10 cents an hour for skilled workers the first year. The top hourly rate is now $3.88.

The settlements also call for 80 per cent of normal pay through supplemental benefits for laid off workers, an improved pension plan, increased company – paid life insurance and more vacation time.

Expect Ratification

A Uniroyal spokesman said in New York that the contract covering some 51,670 workers throughout the country will be signed Friday and that ratification votes by union members are expected over the weekend.

Naugatuck URW officials indicated last night they expect the local membership to ratify the three – year contract.

Thomas Nelligan, labor relations director in Naugatuck, said this morning that the 5,500 employes will be advised when they will be wanted back to work. He said it will take about two days to “get things organized and get the plant back into prodduction.”

Nelligan said the plant is presently in the middle of its annual vacation period and that employes would not normally be working at this time.

He said about 1,000 employes have volunteered to come back

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Uniroyal Strike Settled

7-27-47

Continued from Page 1

to work immediately. Some $2 million in vaacation pay was distributed to employes earlier this week.

URW locals started voting Wednesday on the agreement with Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. which was reached Monday in Cincinnati.

The URW struck Uniroyal The Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. and the B.F. Goodrich Co. when their contracts ran out at midnight April 20.

Goodyear’s contract also expired at the same time, but the union continued working at the company’s plants on a day-to-day basis until July 13.

The General Tire & Rubber Co., whose contract ran out May 15, was added to the strikebound list June 21.

Other Uniroyal plants are in Philadelphia, Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles and Santa Ana, Calif.; Chicopee Falls, Mass.; Prividence and Woonsocket, R.I.; Passaic, N. J.; Opelika, Ala.; Eau Clair, Wis.; Washington, Michawaka and Indianapolis, Ind., and Painesville, Ohio.

Decline

The vacation pay is supplementing the $15 a week the union has been paying its members on strike duty.

The union had been paying $25 a week during the first two weeks of the strike, but had to cut down on the payments as the walkout dragged on.

Merchants in Beacon Falls and Seymour said yesterday there had been some decline in business.

Businessmen in Beacon Falls have been feeling the pinch more acutely than those in Seymour.

“The strike has definitely affected business here,” Albert

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‘Too Long’

In Seymour, father south of the Naugatuck rubber plant, the strike is being felt, but not as strongly as in Beacon Falls.

“Business has dropped off some,” John Gregos, owner and operator of a grocery store at 335 South Main St., said. “The effect has been slight, though, because there are not as many Uniroyal people down here as there are north.”

Peter Klarides, part owner of Klarides’ K Supermarket, 271 Bank St., had a different idea.

“This strike has gone three months too long,” Klarides said. “I would say it has definitely not done us any good.”

Klarides, who manages the sale of appliances in a store that also handles groceries, said the sale of large, luxury items such as appliances, had dropped off because of the strike.

He said he didn’t believe the sale of groceries had been as much hit by the walkout as more expensive items.

“And I don’t think the vacation pay the Uniroyal people are getting this week will help things,” Klarides said, “because that money will be going toward mortgages.”

Two Locals Ratify UniRoyal-URW Master Contract; Third Due Tonight

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Two Locals Ratify UniRoyal-URW Master Contract; Third Due Tonight

atuck, Conn. Established 1885 MONDAY, JULY 31, 1967 10 PAGES Price Seven Cents

SURE-FIRE evidence of the end of the long UniRoyal strike | spaces on Water St. are now filling up more and more as work-
can be seen throughout the borough. Long empty parking | ers return to their jobs. —(News Photo by Baker)

Two Locals Ratify UniRoyal-URW Master Contract; Third Due Tonight

Vacationers Head For The Hills

Vacation time – a time when creatures from the land of steady habits undergo a metamorphosis and become camera-slung tourists, headed for all points of the compass.

Determined to have fun, they take to the highways and byways laden with all sorts of equipment; campers, boats, fly-rods and bicycles, and fun is what they usually find.

Of course there are minor irritations – the endless procession of suitcases crammed with things some member of the family just “had” to have, the bumper-to-bumper traffic in 90-degree heat and the kids em-

broiled in a free-for-all, but somehow, arriving at the vacation destination erases it all.

For some, lakes and rivers provide the ultimate in entertainment whether it be in the next town or the next country. Others find world travel more to their liking.

Group travel has grown in popularity within the past few years offering the vacationer more for less. Business or clubs arrange tours for employes or members at somewhat reduced rates thereby offering the individual a better vacation than he might otherwise have been able to afford.

UniRoyal has offered its employes several of these vacation trips in past years and this year has planned three trips to Hawaii, Puerto Rico and the Bahamas.

More than 160 employes will leave Kennedy Air Port Monday for two weeks, jetting across the ocean to their island in the sun.

Wherever the vacationer goes, here or abroad, for a weekend or a week, it’s all a part of the good life. It offers a change from the ordinary, a chance to soak up the sun and let the fresh air blow away the mental cobwebs.

Two of the three United Rubber Workers locals in Naugatuck have voted to ratify the master contract with UniRoyal. Local 308, Synthetic Division, is also expected to ratify the contract at a 7 o’clock meeting tonight.

Local 45, Footwear Division, voted unanimously Saturday afternoon to ratify, becoming the first Naugatuck local to do so.

Local 218, Chemical Division, held a voting session Sunday with only about 125 of its 725 members present. It is speculated that the small turnout is a result of many workers being away on vacation.

Several Local 218 members expressed annoyance at having to wait 45 days to begin negotiations on the local supplemental contract.

As the URW locals vote to ratify the master contract, UniRoyal is putting out the call for volunteers to work during vacation. A UniRoyal official said today that about 600 workers have already been placed but

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Uniroyal Back at Work After 14-Week Strike

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Uniroyal Back at Work After 14-Week Strike

7-31-67 [handwritten]

Uniroyal employes were returning to work today in Naugatuck and Beacon Falls after two of three striking local unions voted to ratify a three – year contract ending the 14-week walkout.

Resumption of full – scale production is expected to be delayed since many workers are on annual vacation. About one-quarter of the workers have volunteered to postpone their vacations and return to the job immediately, the company said today.

Local 218 , United Rubber Workers of America, Chemical Division, approved the contract last night by voice vote. About 125 of the 725 members were present at Naugatuck High School. Vacations kept most away.

Unanimous Vote

Local 45, Footwear Division, voted unanimously Saturday night to accept the contract.

The third local, 308, Synthetic Division, will vote tonight. It is expected to approve the contract.

About eight men walked out Sunday night before casting their ballots and about five were heard to vote “no.”

A local spokesman for Uniroyal said the “new agreement will cost approximately 80 cents an hour and represents an average increase of more than 6 per cent a year for three years” of the contract.

Wages alone will show a 43-cent hike over the period, he said.

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When asked about this from the floor Sunday, Rzesutek replied: “That’s the way it’s been for 20 years.”

One union member, who walked out before the vote Sunday, said:

“I just spent 14 weeks (on strike) for that contract, and now they tell me I’ve got to wait 45 days before we get the benefits.”

In addition to the 80 per cent guaranteed annual wage, one of the significant gains appears to have been in company-paid surgical plan, which now has unique and untried aspects.

Instead of the $450 maximum for surgical operations, Rzesutek reported, the company will pay the entire bill as long as it’s a “customary and reasonable charge.”

Undoubtedly, the local president told the membership, “we’re going to have some (court) test cases on this.” He said he hoped to get the cooperation of local doctors on this clause regarding “customary and reasonable” medical bills.

The union leader expressed specific pride in improvement of “time spent in grievance meetings.” Also, he said the union won pay for any time spent in arbitration proceedings, “up to 40 hours.”

One other aspect of the contract yet unreported was complete medical coverage of wife and dependants of a worker, who dies on the job and who is at least 55 years old with 15 years of company service.

3 Local Unions Ratification Voting Set

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7-29-67

3 Local Unions Ratification Voting Set

Ratification vote sessions for the three local unions, United Rubber Workers, which recently settled with UniRoyal, Inc., will be held today, tomorrow and Monday, union officials reported.

Local 45, Footwear Division, will hold a regular and special meeting today in the Naugatuck High School auditorium, Rubber Ave., at 2:30 p.m. The policy committee will give a report on the new proposed contract and a ratification vote will then be taken during the special session.

Local 218, Chemical Division, will meet tomorrow at 7 p.m. in the high school auditorium also for its ratification vote.

Local 308, Synthetic Division, will hold a regular and special session Monday at 7 p.m. in the Portuguese Club, Rubber Ave., for the purpose of taking a ratification vote.

Local 308’s Contract Rejection Won’t Affect Uniroyal Production

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Local 308's Contract Rejection Won't Affect Uniroyal Production

The Evening Sentinel, Tuesday, August 1, 1967

BEACON FALLS

Local 308’s Contract Rejection Won’t Affect Uniroyal Production

Local 308, United Rubber Workers Synthetic division, rejected the master contract Friday night which was recently agreed upon by the union and Uniroyal, Inc., in Cincinnati.

Less than one-fourth of the 240 members of the local turned out for the vote. The tally was 32 to 26 against ratification.

Of the three Naugatuck locals, this was the only one to reject the contract. Local 45 ratified it Saturday, followed by Local 218 Sunday.

It was understood that Local 308’s action would not affect production at Uniroyal, where union employes returned to their jobs this week after the 14-week strike.

Reason for rejecting it according to President Edward Alves, was that it did not offer time-and-a-half for Saturdays and a night shift bonus.

Alves said that under the present system workers get time-and-a-half after 40 hours. The membership was satisfied will all other aspects of the contract, he said.

Requires Majority

Union sources say that in order for the new contract to become effective it must be ratified by the majority of the Uniroyal URW membership and the majority of the company’s 19 locals.

If the majority of the Uniroyal locals ratify the master contract, Alves said, it will go into effect when the secondary contract is signed.

Although the vote cast by the local will not hold up talks on supplemental contract, Alves said that a date has not been set for the talks. A membership meeting will have to be held first. This has been tentatively set for Aug. 15.

Pact Talks Resume In Uniroyal Strike

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Pact Talks Resume In Uniroyal Strike

MONDAY MAY 15, 1967

Pact Talks Resume In Uniroyal Strike

NAUGATUCK— Negotiations between the United Rubber Workers and Uniroyal, Inc. resume Tuesday at 10 a.m. in Cincinnati, Ohio, as the strike against the three local plants moves into its 25th day.

The current strike is the longest since the 22-day old walkout in 1959.

Union and management negotiators returned to their homes over the week end after talks were recessed Friday.

Quiet is the report from the local scene where picket line turmoil of early May days has given way to court directed noninterference with the movements both pedestrian and vehicular of supervisory and nonunion personnel.

Shipment of goods resumed last week, without apparent incident other than the refusal of some truck drivers to cross the picket lines to enter the strikebound plants.

Quiet prevailed this morning, too, as supervisors and office employes go back on the job, some arriving possibly an hour earlier than the customary 8 a.m.

At least one supervisor reported being notified to start work at 7 a.m. today, but the reason for the earlier start could not be determained Sunday night or this morning.

The company and union are negotiating the master contract which concerns all 19 plants of Uniroyal throughout the country. About 7,000 workers in the borough are affected by the strike.

Still Quiet In 25-Day-Old Strike

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Still Quiet In 25-Day-Old Strike

Monday May 15, 1967

Still Quiet In 25-Day-Old Strike

George Froehlich, president of Local 45, United Rubber Workers Union, stood at the Maple St. gate of the Footwear Plant, along with picketers this morning, as supervisory personnel of UniRoyal reported for work.

Production in the plant by management was reportedly scheduled to begin today. However, no incidents occurred on the picket lines this morning as some employes arrived an hour earlier for work.

John Smith, manager of the Footwear Plant, was unavailable this morning for comment.

Shipment of goods from the warehouse continued all last week without incident. A few truck drivers, members of the Teamster Union, refused to cross the picket line, but some trucks were brought in by trucking company management.

Negotiations on the master contract in Cincinnati were recessed for the weekend with sessions scheduled to resume at 10 a.m. tomorrow morning. Froehlich returned to the borough over the weekend as well as other local members of the union negotiating team and management negotiators.

The strike, now 25 days old, continues with no word on the progress, if any, being made in negotiations. The issues have not been defined by either side, holding to a pact made by both sides that no statement would be made until settlement has been reached.

The Union was given a strike vote by the membership before it entered into negotiations in Cincinnati and no meeting of the locals has been called to inform the membership of progress.

The three locals in the borough will distribute the $25 benefit checks to its eligible membership for the second week, starting tomorrow.

Rumors of immediate settlement and ones of a long, drawn-out strike, both are rampant in the borough. Most merchants are beginning to feel the pinch of the strike. A few merchants have reported excellent sales as the strikers have been doing household repairs in their idle time.

Many strikers have resorted to part-time jobs to implement their dwindling funds while others, in desperation, have applied for welfare.

Meeting Here Lessens UniRoyal Strike Tensions

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Meeting Here Lessens UniRoyal Strike Tensions

Meeting Here Lessens UniRoyal Strike Tensions

Tuesday MAY 16, 1967 [handwritten]

A three-hour meeting yesterday morning between management and union of UniRoyal led to the lessening of mounting tension. Management assured the union no attempt at footwear production would be made by supervisory personnel.

Following the meeting, the union decided to reduce the hours of picketing back to the original schedule of 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the footwear plants. The around-the-clock schedule of picketing at the Chemical and Synthetic plants will continue.

The meeting was called yesterday when management personnel began reporting at the plant an hour earlier than their normal schedule. Men were observed attired in casual clothes, indicating the rumor that production would begin held some vestige of truth.

Management also assured the Union officials that no efforts to move trucks in or out after 6 p.m. will be made.

Contract negotiations resumed this morning in Cincinnati following a weekend recess. The strike of United Rubber Workers is now in its 26th day.

Union And Uniroyal Reach Joint Accord

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Union And Uniroyal Reach Joint Accord

Union And Uniroyal Reach Joint Accord

Tuesday MAY 16, 1967 [handwritten]

NAUGATUCK— Pickets at the strikebound Uniroyal Footwear Plant have gone back to their original hours of picketing from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., following an agreement with management that no effort will be made to move trucks in or out of the plant after 6 p.m., Local 45 union officials said Monday night.

The arrangement does not affect schedules at the chemical and synthetic plants where picketing continues around the clock.

Decision to reduce the picketing schedule at the footwear plant came after a three-hour meeting between the union and company officials Monday morning at which management also assured the union no attempts at footwear production would be made by supervisory personnel.

Local 45 spokesmen said rumors that such an effort would be made starting Monday had become so prevalent the meeting with management was deemed necessary to pin down the matter one way or the other.

Around-the-clock picketing began May 3 when reports reached the union that management intended to resume shipping. Two days of scuffling followed before the strike reached an even keel again.

Contract negotiations aimed at ending the strike are scheduled to resume at 10 a.m. today in Cincinnati, Ohio.

AKRON, Ohio (AP) ))— Negotiators for the United Rubber Workers and the General Tire & Rubber Co. recessed bargaining after the URW contract with the nation’s fifth largest rubber producer expired at midnight.

Another meeting was scheduled today as work continues, a union spokesman said.

Representatives of the company, with headquarters here, met with union negotiators at Cleveland.

General has 3,052 workers in the URW, which has been on strike against three of the country’s big four rubber companies for 26 days.

That strike idled more than 50,000 April 20 at plants of Firestone Tire & Rubber Co., B. F. Goodrich Co. and Uniroyal.

Employes of Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. have continued to work on a day-to-day basis after the April 20 deadline.

Negotiations have continued with Goodyear and Uniroyal in Cincinnati, Goodrich at Columbus and Firestone in Cleveland.

Neither side has commented on the negotiations.

Firestone has laid off some workers at its tire cord plants in Gastonia, N.C., and Bennettsville, S.C., because of the strike. The textile division plants are not covered by the URW contracts.

Union Goes On 12-Hour Schedule Of Picketing

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Union Goes On 12-Hour Schedule Of Picketing

16—Waterbury Republican, Tuesday, May 16, 1967

Joint Agreement

Union Goes On 12-Hour Schedule Of Picketing

NAUGATUCK — Around-the-clock picketing in the 26-day-old Uniroyal strike was halted at

Naugatuck

the footwear plant Monday and the original 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. schedule restored.

Reason for the reduced schedule, officials of the 4,000-member Local 45, United Rubber Workers, said, was management assurance that no effort to move trucks in or out after 6 p.m. will be made.

The arrangement does not affect schedules at the chemical and synthetic plants where picketing continues around the clock.

Decision to reduce the picketing schedule at the footwear plant came after a three-hour meeting between the union and company officials Monday morning at which management also assured the union no attempts at footwear production would be made by supervisory personnel.

Local 45 spokesmen said rumors that such an effort would be made starting Monday had become so prevalent the meeting with management was deemed necessary to pin down the matter one way or the other.

Around-the-clock picketing began May 3 when reports reached the union that management intended to resume shipping. Two days of scuffling followed before the strike reached an even keel again.

Contract negotiations aimed at ending the strike are scheduled to resume at 10 a.m. today in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Uniroyal Strike Affects Beacon Falls Area Economy

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Uniroyal Strike Affects Beacon Falls Area Economy

Uniroyal Strike Affects

Beacon Falls Area Economy

Tuesday MAY 16, 1967 [handwritten]

By R. E. FITZPATRICK

The Uniroyal strike is having its effect on the economic life of the Naugatuck-Beacon Falls area.

With some 5,000 men and women on strike since April 21, considerably less money is flowing into the area.

Bank deposits are down and withdrawals are greater than normal, some area bankers have found. They expect this trend to continue even after a strike settlement is reached, at least briefly.

Independent grocers have noted a somewhat greater volume of credit buying, but they term the amount not excessive.

Case loads of welfare departments in some surrounding communities are up slightly, but less than some welfare officials had expected.

With time on their hands, many of the strikers apparently are working on do-it-yourself projects.

Local lumber and hardware dealers have noted an increase in the sale of home-repair and home-improvement supplies during the first two weeks of the strike.

Otherwise, they say, business is about normal for this time of year.

The violence that marred the strike early this month has faded. Trucks are entering and leaving the Uniroyal plants daily, taking out cargoes of finished goods.

Picketing is much reduced and has been peaceful.

Around – the – clock picketing ended yesterday at the Naugatuck footwear plant of Uniroyal and the original 6 a.m.-6 p.m. hours were restored.

Officials of Local 45, United Rubber Workers of America, said the move came after the company assured them at a meeting Monday morning that there would be no attempt to drive trucks into or out of the plant after 6 p.m.

Picketing continues around the clock at the chemical and synthetic plants of Uniroyal.

Some 800 office and supervisory personnel are going to work daily at the struck Uniroyal plants in Naugatuck and Beacon Falls without incident, according to Thomas J. Nelligan, industrial relations spokesman for Uniroyal.

Meanwhile, in Cincinnati negotiations are continuing in the nationwide strike that has idled about 50,000 United Rubber workers, including those in Naugatuck and Beacon Falls.

Union Goes On 12-Hour Schedule Of Picketing

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Union Goes On 12-Hour Schedule Of Picketing

16—Waterbury Republican, Tuesday, May 16, 1967

Joint Agreement

Union Goes On 12-Hour Schedule Of Picketing

NAUGATUCK — Around-the-clock picketing in the 26-day-old Uniroyal strike was halted at

Naugatuck

the footwear plant Monday and the original 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. schedule restored.

Reason for the reduced schedule, officials of the 4,000-member Local 45, United Rubber Workers, said, was management assurance that no effort to move trucks in or out after 6 p.m. will be made.

The arrangement does not affect schedules at the chemical and synthetic plants where picketing continues around the clock.

Decision to reduce the picketing schedule at the footwear plant came after a three-hour meeting between the union and company officials Monday morning at which management also assured the union no attempts at footwear production would be made by supervisory personnel.

Local 45 spokesmen said rumors that such an effort would be made starting Monday had become so prevalent the meeting with management was deemed necessary to pin down the matter one way or the other.

Around-the-clock picketing began May 3 when reports reached the union that management intended to resume shipping. Two days of scuffling followed before the strike reached an even keel again.

Contract negotiations aimed at ending the strike are scheduled to resume at 10 a.m. today in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Uniroyal Progress Reported

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Uniroyal Progress Reported

Friday May 19, 1967 [handwritten]

NAUGATUCK— Informed sources gave indications Thursday that there were signs of progress in the negotiations between Uniroyal, Inc., and the United Rubber Workers, still in progress in Cincinnati. The two groups are scheduled to meet again today.

As the strike entered its fifth week, rumors swept the borough to the effect that Firestone had either settled or was very close to settlement. The rumors remained unconfirmed, however, as sources claimed that Firestone did not meet with the union Thursday. They, too, however, are scheduled to meet today.

The signs of progress in the Uniroyal talks were indicated when informed sources said that the number of issues being discussed had dropped from approximately 50 to about 20. What any of the issues are, however, remains unknown.

In addition, sources said, management had offered a guaranteed annual wage amounting to 75 per cent base wage in case of layoffs. The union is reportedly seeking over 90 per cent.

Details of the 75 per cent clause could not be obtained.

The scene in the borough remained quiet again Thursday, and many pickets seemed more cheerful as the rumors of Firestone’s progress ran around town.

In Waterville, a trucker approaching the URW picket line at a Uniroyal warehouse there chose to honor the picket and the truck was taken into the warehouse without incident by a white collar employe.

UniRoyal Strike 32 Days Old; Settlement Rumors Optimistic

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UniRoyal Strike 32 Days Old; Settlement Rumors Optimistic

NAus. News
Monday MAY 22, 1967

UniRoyal Strike 32 Days Old; Settlement Rumors Optimistic

The strike of United Rubber Workers against UniRoyal has now entered its 32nd day with picketing in the borough calm as white collar workers and trucks pass through the gates of the plant.

The flurry of rumors of impending settlement that caused excitement in town last week has subsided and the strikers have once again adopted a waiting attitude.

Negotiations between management and Union, which have been conducted since March 20, will resume this week in Cincinnati following a weekend recess. No word of the progress has been released.

The financial loss in wages alone in the borough is staggering. Applying mathematics and figuring 5,500 striking employes in local plants and an average daily income of about $25, approximately $137,500 is lost every day of the strike in wages alone, not taking into consideration the loss in income for the plants not producing merchandise.

By extending this figure over the 32-days the strike has been in progress, the total wages lost, using these figures as a base, is $4,400,000.

Using the same base as daily wages and considering that 55,000 persons are out of work due to the strike against the “big five” Rubber Companies more than $40 million has been lost in wages thus far.

The union is paying its membership a benefit of $25 a week. Many of the striking workers have found temporary part-time employment while others are beginning to dig into their savings.

The welfare agencies have received requests from strikers who have nothing to fall back on since the first week of idleness.

Uniroyal Rumors Unconfirmed

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Uniroyal Rumors Unconfirmed

SAT. MAY 20, 1967 [handwritten]

NAUGATUCK — Although rumors ran wild in the borough Friday to the effect that Uniroyal and the United Rubber Workers had reached a settlement in their negotiations on a master contract, the rumors failed to pan out, and no settlement was announced.

Other rumors, which claimed that they were at least close, were heard around the borough but remained unconfirmed, as negotiators in Cincinnati refused to speak with the press.

The first hints of possible settlement were indicated by reliable source Thursday, when it was reported that the number of items under discussion had dropped from approximately 50 to about 20.

It was also reported that management had offered a 75 per cent guaranteed annual wage clause. No further details on the clause could be obtained.

Rumors of a settlement between Firestone and the URW also remained unconfirmed at press time Friday, as no statements were issued.

Recess In Talks Dulls Hopes For Uniroyal Strike Settlement

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Recess In Talks Dulls Hopes For Uniroyal Strike Settlement

Recess In Talks Dulls Hopes For Uniroyal Strike Settlement

Sunday May 21, 1967 [handwritten]

By PATRICK KEATING
Register Staff Reporter

NAUGATUCK —A weekend recess in contract talks between the international policy committee of the United Rubber Workers, AFL-CIO, and of Uniroyal management carried the strike at the company’s three divisions here into its 31st day today.

Negotiators agreed to the recess Friday and will resume talks Monday at 10 a.m. at Cincinnati.

The recess is a disappointment to the 5,000 idled employes of the Footwear, Chemical and Synthetic Divisions of Uniroyal here, for hopes of a settlement had been feeding on reports,

some reliable and others unsubstantiated, that a breakthrough was imminent.

Officials of Locals, 45, 218 and 308 who are in daily contact with Cincinnati, however, are holding out some encouragement that the strike will be settled shortly. They said their sources report closer contact at the conference table.

Reportedly, Uniroyal management is using the weekend to reassess the revised demands of the union.

One spokesman for the unio here said that company official could walk into the conferenc room Monday and agree t terms.

This, if it happened, could n

come too soon for rubber workers and the town. The strike has had an effect on the financial status of the striking employes and the economic life of borough stores and businesses.

The strike has left the idled workers with four payless weeks and the prospects of a fifth if an agreement is not reached early next week.

Financial relief of $25 weekly is being extended to members by the URW and assistance is available from th

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Strike Settlement Close? Most Residents Hope So

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Strike Settlement Close? Most Residents Hope So

Strike Settlement Close? Most Residents Hope So

Tuesday May 23, 1967

The new pastime in the borough is the guessing of when the strike will end. A more optimistic attitude has been adopted by the strikers and the consensus of opinion is that settlement is close.

However, no statements on the progress of negotiations in Cincinnati have been issued. The negotiating teams are meeting daily, discussing the terms of the master contract. Local contracts will be considered once settlement is reached on the master contract.

UniRoyal is continuing to ship from its warehouse with no objection from the union as long as the company ships only goods made prior to the strike and does not attempt production in the local plants.

The three borough Locals of the United Rubber Workers began issuing benefit checks to its membership for the third week today and will continue through tomorrow working on the same schedule it used for the past two weeks.

Many strikers families are becoming anxious with school graduations just a month away. The financial pinch of 33 days without full pay will cause curtailment of planned celebrations.

Eight Pickets Are Arrested In New Uniroyal Disorder

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Eight Pickets Are Arrested In New Uniroyal Disorder

Thurs. Sentinel MAY 25, 1967

Eight Pickets Are Arrested In New Uniroyal Disorder

Eight pickets were arrested today at the struck Uniroyal chemical plant in Naugatuck and charged with breach of the peace as violence flared there for the first time since May 5.

The arrests came after about 40 pickets had attempted to prevent some 500 office and management personnel from entering the plant. There was pushing and shoving, but no injuries.

Eight Naugatuck police officers under Capt. Joseph Summa cleared a way through the picket line for the management personnel, who entered the plant.

The picket line was reinforced this morning after the company had told the striking unions that it planned to resume production at the chemical plant. In recent weeks there had been only a few pickets at the Elm Street gate, where the violence flared just before 8 a.m. today.

Among those arrested were Joseph Rzesutek, 236 Rigg St., Oxford, president of Local 218, United Rubber Workers of America, and Dominic A. George of 33 Railroad Ave., Beacon Falls.

A Seymour man, Henry Hook, 167 West Church St., was freed in $20 bail. The others were released on their own recognizance.

Continuance Granted In UniRoyal Case

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Continuance Granted In UniRoyal Case

Wed. MAY 24, 1967

A two-week postponement was granted yesterday in a hearing on a UniRoyal Inc. petition seeking an injunction against the United Rubber Workers Union.

Neither parties appeared in Waterbury Superior Court for the hearing. Judge Leo V. Gaffney granted the continuance on the basis of a letter received from the UniRoyal attorneys to the effect that picketing at the local plants was orderly.

This is the second continuance granted. The first hearing was held May 9 and the hearing is now scheduled for June 6.

Small teams of pickets are stationed from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Footwear plant gates and a minimum number of pickets keep an around the clock vigil at the Chemical Co. gates.

Freight trains containing UniRoyal boxcars and tank cars are moved in and out of the Chemical plant, manned by management of the New Haven Railroad, almost daily now, without incident.

Trucking continues at the Warehouse on Elm St. and management employes continue to report for work every day, pausing at the picket lines to exchange friendly conversation with the strikers.

Factor of Safety In Production Move Sparks Dispute At Uniroyal

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Factor Of Safety In Production Move Sparks Dispute At Uniroyal

Friday MAY 26, 1967

NAUGATUCK — Efforts by management personnel to produce what were termed defense sub-contract items at the Uniroyal Chemical Plant Thursday touched off a controversy with URW Local 218 over the question of safety.

An announcement by management Wednesday that it planned to produce the items also resulted in an effort by about 30 members of the local to bar management personnel from entering the plant Thursday morning.

After the management personnel entered the plant to begin production, members of the striking local circulated handbills around the borough questioning the decision to produce.

The handbills claimed that the personnel were “unfamiliar with the operating procedures and safety hazards involved” in the machines.

It was further added that “serious accidents have occurred with experienced operators in control of the equipment, and a full compliment of people who were fortunate enough to contain these hazards.”

John D. Evans, manager of the chemical plant, answered the safety charges with a statement that “at present, operations are limited in scope and are being achieved by crews completely familiar with all operating procedures and safety practices.

“In fact,” added Evans, “these (management) personnel are normally responsible for the training and direction of the regular operators.”

Local 218 hinged its complaint on the claim that “the operating of process equipment with inexperienced personnel and only a skeleton crew present a definite hazard to the townspeople . . . It exposes the citizens to the possibility of explosion or deadly gases being released to the atmosphere.”

Evans answered the charge that the safety of the borough was being jeapordized with the statement that “We consider the safety of all personnel in the plant as well as that of the residents—to be the first consideration of management in all decisions regarding operations regardless of circumstance.”

The early morning efforts to block the personnel from entering the plant resulted in the arrest of eight members of the local, although there was no shoving or pushing in the incident and no injuries were reported.

According to Evans, the purpose of the move to produce was to fulfill a sub-contract for a material which protects the plexiglass windshields of planes during shipment. The material, he added, would be used on planes destined for Vietnam.

While management personnel waited to enter the plant at about 7 a.m. Thursday, Police Capt. Joseph Summa read the riot act to the assembled pickets. The arrest of the eight union members followed, and they were taken to the police station in patrol cars.

All arrested were charged with breach of peace and released under the no cash bail program, except for Henry Hook, 167 West Church St., Seymour, who posted a $20 cash bond due to being arrested for the second time within six months. Hook had been arrested on the same charge during the scuffle with police and Local 45 pickets at the Maple St. Footwear Plant.

Others arrested were Rzeszutek, 45, 236 Riggs St., Oxford; Joseph P. Paplauskas, 46, 99 Gorman St.; Marcel H. Herbert, 39, 179 Tudor St., Waterbury; Robert Anderson, 37, 84 Svea Ave.; Dominic A. George, 55, 33 Railroad Ave., Beacon Falls; Tano Sanangelo, 53, 82 Pinehurst Ave., Waterbury and Albert R. Lestage, 37, 85 Vernon St., Waterbury.

Rzeszutek also said that he is considering asking the membership at their next meeting to no longer honor withdrawal cards of personnel who have salaried positions. Rzeszutek said the union considers these people “undesirable for readmittance to the local in the event they are removed from salary.”

In response to Rzeszutek’s statement, Plant Mgr. John Evans said that the union had been given ample notice that there would be some production on key items necessary to the defense effort in Vietnam. However, he declined to comment on the rest of the union local president’s statement.

Striking Rubber Workers Urge Boycott of Products

by

tions.” Times 5-27-67

Striking Rubber Workers
Urge Boycott of Products

AKRON, Ohio, May 25 (AP)
—A campaign against the purchase of products made by three
struck rubber companies is being conducted by the United
Rubber Workers.

The companies struck by the
union April 20 when contracts
expired are Uniroyal, B. F.
Goodrich Company, and the
Firestone Tire and Rubber Company. Workers at the General
Tire and Rubber and Goodyear
Tire and Rubber plants are
working on a day-to-day basis
while contract negotiations continue.

Peter Bommarito, union president, said Wednesday union
members on strike against the
three companies would be stationed at dealer stores with
posters asking customers not to
buy their products.

Uniroyal Injunction Hearing Continued

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SATURDAY MAY 27, 1967

Uniroyal Injunction Hearing Continued

NAUGATUCK An injunction sought by Uniroyal Chemical Friday against the United Rubber Workers was continued by Superior Court Judge Leo V. Gaffney.

The continuance was ordered following an early morning session of peaceful picketing by Local 218 at the Elm St. entrance to the plant. All personnel seeking entry into the plant passed through without incident.

In its court appearance Thursday, the local must show cause why an injunction should not be issued against “illegal picketing activities.”

Although the scene at the gate was quiet Friday morning, eight pickets were arrested Thursday at the same gate.

At that time pickets were attempting to stop management personnel from entering the plant to produce items management said wene needed for the Vietnam war effort.

Judge Gaffney said he knew “there was a spark of patriotism” in everyone and added he hoped this would lead to a lessening of tensions at the Chemical Plant.

Union Pres. Joseph Rzeszutek, one of those arrested Thursday, hotly denied that any of the items produced Thursday were going to Vietnam.

No witnesses were called in the case. Judge Gaffney met with union and management lawyers in chambers and then issued the order in open court.

Reclaim Slabs

Rzeszutek’s comments came after the court proceedings. He claimed only items shipped were “slabs of reclaim,” or slabs of rubber made by a reclaiming process starting with old tires and other rubber items.

“What are they going to do with slabs of reclaim, drop them 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.

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

Time To Consider

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Time To Consider

Saturday May 27, 1967

Time To Consider

United Rubber Workers Local 218 has been summoned to appear in Superior Court next week to show cause why an injunction should not be issued against illegal picketing in the month-old strike involving Naugatuck plants of Uniroyal, Inc.

Judge Leo V. Gaffney, who issued the order, also expressed the hope that things in Naugatuck would quiet down and thus eliminate the need for the hearing, presently slated for Thursday.

The judge ordered the show-cause hearing in the wake of arrests made at Uniroyal gates, when union pickets attempted to prevent management personnel from entering the plant.

Management had insisted that the employes were needed to produce items needed for the war in Vietnam. Union officials hotly denied that there was any proof of need for the items which management said were destined for the Southeast Asian war effort.

The point is, of course, that there is obvious lack of communication; obvious skepticism. It is, as Judge Gaffney said, not difficult to understand that union members should be exercised by the thought that “someone is destroying . . . their right to work and live.”

It is almost always thus in matters of disagreement in labor difficulties which end up with strikes. When failure to agree reaches the strike stage, emotionalism almost always takes over in place of realism; and the phenomenon is not limited to one side or the other.

It would be far better for all parties concerned if reason and common sense could prevail—which is what Judge Gaffney was suggesting. Let’s hope there will be no hearing. Let’s hope that there will be a settlement before June 1 rolls around.

Local 45 Membership Meets This Afternoon

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Local 45 Membership Meets This Afternoon

Local 45 Membership Meets This Afternoon

5-29-67

By RUTH NICHOLS

A meeting of the membership of Local 45 United Rubber Workers is scheduled for this afternoon at 2:30 in the Naugatuck High School auditorium.

Local 45 President George Froehlich, home from the negotiating sessions in Cincinnati, will address the membership as a whole for the first time since the beginning of the 39-

day old strike. No advance word as to the subject of this meeting has been released.

Because of the Memorial Day holiday this week, the issuance of the strike benefit checks will vary from the previous weeks. Those who have been receiving their checks on Tuesday are scheduled for the same time Wednesday and those who normally pick up checks on Wednesday will report Thursday, Local

45 announced.

Picketing in the borough remained quiet today at all three plants of UniRoyal. Both Local 45 and 218 are operating with the threat of a restraining injunction being imposed at the first sign of violence.

At the beginning of the month the membership of Local 45 became angered when management officials announced they

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4 Pickets Are Arrested At Uniroyal

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4 Pickets Are Arrested At Uniroyal

5-31-67 [handwritten]

Naugatuck police arrested four union pickets today, including a Seymour resident, as supervisory personnel at Uniroyal Co. filed through picket lines to begin production.

Company management had notified representatives of Local 45, United Rubber Workers of America, Monday that production would be begun today by supervisory personnel.

Edward Alvares, president of URW Local 308, warned of the possibility of danger in having supervisory personnel, unfamiliar with procedures, working in production at the chemical plant.

Safety Precautions

Company officials said safety precautions were being taken.

About 100 pickets were on duty in front of the Naugatuck plant today when about 150 supervisory employees went to work.

Twelve policemen were on duty and arrested four pickets on charges of breach of peace, including Anthony Gambardella of 53 Birchwood Road, Seymour. Two pickets were carried away.

Negotiations between management and the union are taking place in Cincinnati. They were scheduled to resume today.

George Froelich, president of Local 45, told union members yesterday at a meeting at Naugatuck High School auditorium that company officials were reluctant to discuss issues presented by union negotiators.

Strike Negotiations Resume Today In Ohio

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Strike Negotiations Resume Today In Ohio

Strike Negotiations Resume Today In Ohio

6-1-67 [handwritten]

The negotiating session between UniRoyal and the United Rubber Workers, scheduled for yesterday afternoon at 2 p.m., was canceled. No reason for the cancelation was given.

However, a meeting set for 10 a.m. today was expected to be held in Cincinnati.

The sessions had been recessed last Friday for the long holiday weekend and were scheduled to resume yesterday afternoon.

Picketing is calm at all three UniRoyal plants in the borough this morning. The Synthetic Plant yesterday morning was the scene of mass picketing.

The company announced its decision to resume production on a limited scale within the plant and members of Local 308 massed at the gate in an attempt to keep out supervisory personnel.

The line opened up after policemen forced a wedge with little resistance. Four of the pickets were booked on breach of peace charges while approximately 30 fellow members of Local 308 appeared at police headquarters in sympathy. All was quiet on the line by 8 o’clock yesterday morning.

The Chemical Division of UniRoyal has been in production on a limited scale for a week now as the strike enters its 42nd day.

Production is not being conducted at the Footwear plant, although considerable shipping has been done from its warehouse on Elm St.

Officials of both Local 218 of the Chemical and Local 308 of the Synthetic, have expressed concern as to the safety of the

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Negotiators Not Meeting In Ohio

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Negotiators Not Meeting In Ohio

6-2-67

No negotiating sessions between UniRoyal and the United Rubber Workers have been held yet this week and strong rumors indicate no session will be held today. Yesterday for the second consecutive day a scheduled session was canceled.

Union spokesmen said the reason for the cancellation of Wednesday’s and Thursday’s talks was to enable the negotiating committees to meet privately. The cancellations were said to be by mutual agreement.

Peter Bommarito, URW international president, in the union’s NLRB unfair labor practice complaint, struck bitterly at the mutual assistance strike pact of the five major rubber companies as the cause of the union’s strike against UniRoyal, Firestone and Goodrich.

He said the union expects to file similar charges against all five of the major concerns. He called the strike pact a “combination or conspiracy” among the five companies.

The pact, according to Bommarito, which provides “substantial” financial aid for any of the five that experience work stoppages – to be supplied by those that aren’t struck – isn’t unprecedented in industry. But the issue hasn’t previously been

the basis of unfair labor practice charges before the NLRB.

Bommarito, in the union’s NLRB complaint, contended the mutual aid pact has prolonged the strike because it prevents the employer from agreeing on necessary terms of settlement without the approval of the other members of the conspiracy.

The companies had stated, in disclosing existence of the pact

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Small Groups Continue Talks

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Small Groups Continue Talks

2—Waterbury American, Friday, June 2, 1967

Naugatuck

Small Groups Continue Talks

NAUGATUCK— Although scheduled talks on a master contract between the big five rubber companies and United Rubber Workers failed to take place this week, it was learned this morning that individual firm and union officials of each company local are meeting in

Naugatuck Valley

small groups for continuation of negotiations.

Officials of Locals 45, 218 and 308 are in Cincinnati, Ohio. However, the team of Uniroyal Company negotiators has returned here, with the talks being carried on by New York officials of Uniroyal.

The strike against Uniroyal and two other giant rubber companies enters its seventh week today.

Union spokesmen said the reason for the cancellation of Wednesday’s and Thursday’s talks was to enable the negotiating committees to meet privately. The cancellations, it was noted, were by mutual agreement.

In other developments it was learned Thursday that URW International President Peter Bommarito may file unfair labor practice charges against Uniroyal.

Bommarito alleges that a mutual aid pact between the five rubber firms is interfering with “good faith bargaining.”

The URW filed unfair labor practice charges against Firestone Thursday, and plans “to file similar charges against each of the other four parties who are parties to this strike assistance pact.”

The international president charged that the mutual aid pact was the cause of the strike against Uniroyal, Firestone and B.F.Goodrich.

Work has continued on a day-to-day basis at the other two members of the big five, Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. and General Tire and Rubber Co.

Pickets at the three borough operations continued Thursday, with no reports of mass picketing among any of the three locals.

Uniroyal Talks Fail To Occur

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6-2-67

Uniroyal Talks Fail To Occur

NAUGATUCK — For the second day scheduled talks on a master contract between Uniroyal and the United Rubber Workers failed to take place Thursday. Reliable sources indicated that they would not resume today.

URW sources in Cincinnati said Thursday night that the union had made an offer to management to resume negotiations today, but added that as of that time management had not responded to the offer.

Exactly when the negotiations would resume could not be learned, as management spokesmen could not be reached Thursday night.

As the second day of the sudden break in negotiations drew to a close, the strike against Uniroyal and two other giant rubber companies entered its seventh week.

Union spokesmen said the reason for the cancellation of Wednesday’s and Thursday’s talks was to enable the negotiating committees to meet privately. The cancellations, it was noted, were by mutual agreement.

In other developments it was learned Thursday that URW International President Peter Bommarito may file unfair labor practice charges against Uniroyal.

Bommarito alleges that a mutual aid pact between the five rubber firms is interfering with “good faith bargaining.”

The URW filed unfair labor practice charges against Firestone Thursday, and plans “to file similar charges against each of the other four parties who are parties to this strike assistance pact.”

The international president charged that the mutual aid pact was the cause of the strike against Uniroyal, Firestone and B.F.Goodrich.

Work has continued on a day-by-day basis at the other two members of the big five, Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. and General Tire and Rubber Co.

Pickets at the three borough operations continued Thursday, with no reports of mass picketing among any of the three locals.

Naugatuck Stalemate May Ease

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Naugatuck Stalemate May Ease

Rubber Strike In 45th Day 6-4-67

Naugatuck Stalemate May Ease

By PATRICK KEATING
Register Staff Reporter

NAUGATUCK — A turning point in the stalemated negotiations between the United Rubber Workers-AFL-CIO and Uniroyal is expected this week, possibly as early as Monday.

The strike at the company’s three local divisions is now in its 45th day.

Though neither side is talking outside the conference rooms, it has been indicated that the issue of a new master contract has reached a point where either

the union or the company will have to budge.

If this happens, an agreement could be reached that would send some 5,000 local union members back to work after being idle since April 21.

The seriousness of the deadlock in negotiations was evident this past week when the URW international committee and Uniroyal representatives reportedly failed to meet following the Memorial Day holiday.

Reports from Cincinnati were that both negotiating teams had passed up official conferences so that they might meet separately in a drastic effort to resolve the stalemate.

A reliable source has said that when negotiations are resumed Monday, Uniroyal will have a package deal available for the consideration of the union. The context of this reported proposal is not yet known and the policy of Uniroyal has been to abstain from public announcements on its position.

Last Monday, the company forwarded an open letter to its employes, explaining that it had proposed that the contract be negotiated on a day-to-day basis. This would have permitted production to continue.

George Froehlich, president of Local 45, Footwear, did not discount the statement but said that the proposal to work and negotiate had been tendered only a short time before the expiration of the contract.

Prior to the strike, the URW announced it was seeking a substantial hourly wage increase

and a guaranteed salary, among other benefits. The guaranteed wage is considered one of the real issues that has kept the negotiators apart.

It is reported that Uniroyal is interested in signing a contract on a three-year basis. Present contracts are for two years.

Also, Uniroyal is looking to September when it will have to negotiate a supplemental contract with the union. The possibility of another walkout then has prompted Uniroyal to seek an understanding at this time on pension and other benefits. However, the union reportedly is not enthused about any agreement now on issues that pertain to the supplemental contract.

City’s Yale Club To Hold Annual Dinner On Monday

The annual dinner meeting of the Yale Club of New Haven will be held Monday in the dining room of Ezra Stiles College, according to club president Norman I. Botwinik. A social hour will begin in the buttery at 6:30 p.m.

Henry Elliot, program chairman, said scholarships will be presented to Mark DeFrancesco of Notre Dame High School; Joseph Roberti, Branford High; Richard Sweeting, Wilbur Cross, and Harry Armstrong, who will be graduating from West Haven High. Membership dues provide the revenues for the scholarships.

Speaker at the dinner will be Ingslee Clark, director of admissions at Yale. Donald Walker will be toastmaster.

Rubber Strike Negotiations Continue In Ohio Cities

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Rubber Strike

6-6-67

Negotiations Continue In Ohio Cities

Negotiators representing the United Rubber Workers Union and UniRoyal met yesterday in Cincinnati for the first time since the Memorial Day recess. Reliable sources report the meeting lasted until well after 10 o’clock last night.

Although federal mediators are in Cincinnati it has been said that they are not present at the negotiating table. Another meeting has been scheduled for this morning.

Although picketing remains quiet in the borough, nerves are on edge and rumors of impending riots are being spread throughout the borough. Locals 45, 218 and 308 are continuing to distribute weekly union benefit checks today. The strike, now in its 45th day, is taking its financial toll in the borough.

Third Ward Republican Burgess Edward McGrath announced last night that he plans to ask the Borough Board at its meeting tonight to “bring Gov. John Dempsey into the picture.”

“It’s high time the Governor took action,” he said, adding

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