Continued from Page 1
Police Chief Frank J. Mariano
and Capt. Joseph Summa, in
charge of the strike detail.
They agreed that there should
be no further violence.
The Rubber Workers have
been on strike since April 21 as
part of a nationwide walkout.
More than 5,000 persons are af-
fected locally, and about 50,-
000 nationally.
NAUGATUCK POLICE grapple with an unidentified picket Friday morning, as flareups at Uniroyal moved into second day. — Coviello Photo.
5-6-67
20
5-7-67
AP
PICKET HAULED AWAY — One of 21 pickets at Uniroyal Footwear Division plant in Naugatuck arrested for breach of peace Friday in second day of strike for refusal to allow non-union employes into plant is dragged up street to nearby police headquarters.
Dr. Harold J. Bingham, who hired a landscape architect firm to do a study on state college needs which left Waterbury’s high priority out of the picture, resigned Friday as executive secretary to the Board of Trustees of State Colleges.
Dr. Bingham, who was stripped of his powers of fiscal independence after the Waterbury newspapers disclosed he had hired landscape architects to do a statewide survey of education needs, fired a blast at the trustees as he departed his post, charging them with trying to buy his resignation.
Proclaiming he is “not for sale,” Dr. Bingham charged that he’d been offered “a deal at a cost of $6,000 to the taxpayers of Connecticut.”
The deal, he said at a news conference in Hartford Friday, consisted of reassignment as a state college history professor at top salary for the job; leave of absence with pay, “I repeat, with pay,” until Sept. 1; and $500 travel expense.
“Ladies and gentlemen of Connecticut,” said Dr. Bingham, “Gov. John Dempsey, members of your administration and members of the board of trustees. I am not for sale.”
assigned to studying the state’s educational needs.
Early in February, investigation by the newspapers disclosed the firm which conducted the survey which Dr. Bingham said he couldn’t make public, was listed in the Boston phone directory as “landscape architects.”
It was disclosed also: That the Chamber of Commerce of Cambridge, Mass., had never heard of the firm; that the recommending agency, Educational Facilities Laboratories of New York City, knew the firm as “experts in campus planning”, but knew of no work done by the firm in the field of educational development; and that the day
(Cont’d On Page 2 —Bingham)
NAUGATUCK—William C. Rado isn’t resigning after all as a member of the Board of Education, he said Friday night.
Rado had told a reporter ear-
NAUGATUCK— The United Rubber Workers Union has been warned to refrain from any violence or from interfering in any way with operations of Uniroyal’s footwear plant here pending a court hearing Tuesday on an injunction petition against mass picketing.
The warning was issued in stern tones by Superior Court Judge Leo V. Gaffney Friday after three hours of fruitless negotiations with company and union representatives in an attempt to reach an out-of-court agreement to limit picketing at the strike-bound plant.
The warning from Judge Gaffney followed in the wake of three days of clashes between police and strikers, during which 71 pickets were arrested on charges of breach of peace.
Only hours after the injunction hearing, a group consisting of Mayor Joseph C. Raytkwich, Chief of Police Frank J. Mariano, Police Commissioners Henry Marlor and William Simmons and representatives of the union gathered in the mayor’s office.
Following the session, which lasted almost two hours, during which loud voices could be heard from behind the closed
By PATRICK KEATING
Register Staff Reporter
NAUGATUCK —Peace and order, conspicuous by its absence during strike demonstrations here Thursday and Friday, which resulted in wholesale arrests, returned once more as the strike by the United Rubber Workers Union against Uniroyal enters its 17th day.
The turnabout from an explosive atmosphere is attributed by both union and management officials to the successful application by Uniroyal in the Waterbury Superior Court Friday for a restaining order against URW.
The order as granted compels Local 45 of the Footwear Division to restrict the mode of its picketing and also desist from attempts to prevent management personnel, company trucks and other public conveyances from entering and leaving the factory.
The union’s insistence that management personnel be barred along with no shipping of company products during the strike touched off the distrubances that almost reached riot proportions on Thursday and Friday.
Union officials who were individually served with restraining order proceedings Friday night agree that they must abide by the court orders.
Start Monday
Accordingly, on Monday office help and supervisory employes will be permitted to cross the picket lines without any challenges. The same policy will be in effect as to entrance the departure of any trucks that might be transporting Uniroyal merchandise.
Members of the union were instructed Friday night on these privileges granted the company as a result of the order. They also were requested to abide by the court action.
The order should eliminate hard feelings that were aroused between the strikers and members of the borough Police Department. Some pickets required hospitalization and so did some policemen reportedly injured in the scuffling.
Charges have been hurled back and forth and there was a report Friday night that a suit may be levied against the borough by the union over a supposedly act of brutality.
Contract Talks
Meanwhile, forgotten in the rash of demonstrations was the progress, or lack of it, at the conference table at Cincinnatti where a new contract is being negotiated.
The talks were recessed for the weekend and will be resumed Monday morning. A contact at Cincinnati reported that apparently no great step was taken to reach an agreement.
In Naugatuck, the strike called April 21 has shut down operations at the Footwear, Chemical and Synthetic Divisions of Uniroyal.
And for union members, it means that they are now in the third week of a strike that has already cost them two full pay checks.
Finanical Aid
Some financial assistance will be forthcoming on Tuesday and Wednesday when Locals 45, 218 and 308 will hand out special strike benefit checks to their memberships.
The crippling strike has not only hit the union members hard but is also being felt by stores, restaurants, business establishments and tradesmen that rely on factory workers for much of their revenue.
The economic pinch has also hit the borough in an unusual way since its meter receipts have been greatly affected. Employes of the Footwear Division while at work use the all-day meters, costing 25 cents for an eight-hour period.
[Handwritten notation at top of page appears to read: “5/7/67”]
Office and supervisory employes at the Uniroyal plants in Beacon Falls and Naugatuck crossed picket lines without incident this morning to go to work.
About 50 persons entered the Beacon Falls plant — the first to do so since the strike began April 21. Some 200 went into the Naugatuck plant. There was no violence or name – calling.
There were perhaps a dozen pickets on duty in Beacon Falls. Token picketing in Naugatuck was in sharp contrast to the mass picketing of last week.
Raymond Mengacci, vice president of Local 45, United Rubber Workers of America, told The Sentinel today that he had ordered his picket captains to permit no interference with persons entering or leaving the plants.
Warning Heeded
Union officials have said they would heed the warning given Friday by Judge Leo V. Gaffney of Superior Court in Waterbury against mass picketing.
A hearing will be held at 11 Court on Uniroyal’s application for an injunction to bar mass picketing and picket – line violence.
Meanwhile union officials announced that strike benefit checks will be available tomorrow and Wednesday.
Members of Locals 218 and 308 may get their checks between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. at their local headquarters.
Members of Local 45 will re-
ceive them on the following schedule at union headquarters: Tuesday morning, Clock Numbers 1, to 3000; Tuesday afternoon, 3001 to 7000; Wednesday morning, 7001,to 11000; Wednesday afternoon, 11001 to 15999.
PICKETERS at the Maple St. gate of UniRoyal wore smiles this morning as they allowed white collar workers enter the plants without incident. Peaceful picketing was the order of the day, a far cry from the near riot conditions of Thursday and Friday.
—(News photo by Piscitelli)
8-8-67
Peaceful picketing was conducted at the gates of all UniRoyal plants this morning as negotiations on the UniRoyal master contracts resumed in Cincinnati.
After Thursday and Friday mornings near-riot conditions on Maple St., management of UniRoyal went into Waterbury Superior Court Friday afternoon seeking a restraining order.
Judge Leo V. Gaffney issued a stern warning to the unions to cease blocking operations and allow the white collar workers to enter the plants. He continued the case until tomorrow to allow the union to prepare its case.
Raymond Mengacci, vice-president of Local 45, said he issued instructions to his picket captains to uphold the law and allow company personnel to pass through the lines.
Mengacci was at the Maple St. gates this morning to insure picketing remained peaceful.
Police relieved that the tension has eased, spent the morning assessing the situation and checking on damaged clothing and injuries received while trying to control the situation.
UniRoyal, along with the restraining order it is seeking, is asking $1 million in damages from the union as a result of the strikers’ alleged interference with plant operations.
The injunction request reads, in part, that “the plaintiff (UniRoyal) has been and will continue to be unable to perform functions vital to its operations ….”
Neither President of Local 45, George Froehlich, or its vice-president, Mengacci, have any comment to make on this claim of damages.
[Visible on picket signs in image:]
– UNITED RUBBER WORKERS ON STRIKE
– UNITED RUBBER WORKERS ON STRIKE
NAUGATUCK — An air of peace prevailed this morning at the strikebound Uniroyal Footwear Plant as company personnel entered the Maple St. gate office without incident from nearby picketing members of the United Rubber Workers, in contrast to clashes between the strikers and police during the latter part of last week.
Instructions for peaceful picketing were given to picket captains by Raymond Mengacci,
vice-president of Local 45, Sunday, in the wake of a stern warning from Superior Court Judge Leo V. Gaffney, Friday, to refrain from interfering in any way with operations of the Uniroyal Plant, pending a hearing on an injunction petition by the company against mass picketing. The hearing will be held Tuesday at 11 a. m.
Damages of $1 million are being asked b y Uniroyal management from the union as a result of the strikers’ alleged interference with plant operations. The injunction request reads in part that “the plaintiff (Uniroyal) has been and will continue to be unable to perform functions vital to its operations. . .”
No comments on t he company’s damage claims were made by Mengacci, who said he had not been aware of the subject and would have to wait until Tuesday’s hearing before making a statement. Local 45 President George Froehlich, also contacted Sunday, s aid he had “no comments.”
As far as it could be determined, this is the first time in which this large figure in damages have been claimed by the company during strikes within the past several years.
Talks on a new contract between the company and the union resume today in Cincinnati as the strike enters into its third week. However, Froehlich, when contacted Sunday, declined to comment on the progress of the talks between the union and management representatives.
Picketing at the two other plants of Uniroyal, the Chemical Division and Synthetic, has been peaceful from the beginning of the strike.
have gone back to their normal routine. The chief expressed his appreciation to Vice-Presidents Mengacci of Local 45 and Cy Blanchard, Local 218, for restoring peace and order to the picket lines. He also said he had the highest praise for his police staff during the crucial moments of the uneasiness that had prevailed between the pickets and police last week.
Strike benefit checks will be issued by the union Tuesday and Wednesday between 9 a. m. and 3 p. m. Members of each local should report to his local’s headquarters.
Those eligible are members who have performed or were available for strike duty.
Mayor Joseph Raytkwich said today that a special meeting will be held today at 7 p.m. by the Welfare Board to set up a policy for welfare benefits for those affected by the strike. Inquiries on benefits, he said, have been coming to his office and to the Welfare Department.
Mayor Frederick W. Palomba of Waterbury and First Selectman Norman W. Husted, Oxford, also have received inquiries on welfare aid, it was reported.
[Handwritten note at top: 5-9-66]
[Bottom partial text visible: Frank Mariano]
3-8-67
NAUGATUCK — Strike wrought negotiations on a new Uniroyal contract will resume this morning in Cincinnati, Ohio,
and picketing will continue to be “peaceful” in front of the local plant, union officials reported Sunday.
While the nationwide rubber workers strike goes into its third week, pickets here are expected to take up a quiet watch in front of the Naugatuck plant, after a stern warning from Superior Court Judge Leo V. Gaffney to cease blocking operations. This order was issued after two days of heated exchanges and union arrests when white-collar workers tried to enter the plant late last week.
In response to the judge’s order, vice president of Local 45, Raymond Mengacci, said:
“We will uphold the law. We are not going to hold up company personnel. I issued these instructions to my picket captains today.” Picketing was peaceful Saturday, after the warning.
Local President George Froehlich said, when called Sunday, that negotiations on the contract will resume as usual at 10 a.m. today in the Netherlands Hilton Hotel in Cincinnati. He would not comment on the progress of the talks with management representatives.
An injunction request for the union to show cause why a restraining order should not be issued on mass picketing will be heard Tuesday morning by Judge Gaffney.
$1 Million Asked
Among claims on picketing restraints by Uniroyal management is the asking of $1 million in damages from the union as a result of the strikers’ alleged interference with plant operations.
The injunction request reads in part that “the plaintiff (Uniroyal) has been and will continue to be unable to perform functions vital to its operations. . .”
When asked Sunday for a reaction to damage claim, Mengacci said that he was not aware of the subject and would have to wait until Tuesday’s hearing before commenting. hearing before commenting. Froehlich said: “No comments.”
Arrest Driver
Police arrested a local driver
Sunday evening on the charge of failure to obey a state traffic control sign.
Arrested was Eugene Quint, 20, 24 Aetna St. Officer Henry Kuczinski issued the summons at 8:30 p.m. to appear at the Fourth Circuit Court Waterbury, June 12.
6, 1967
‘Realistic, Logical’: 5-6-67
Akron, O.—The Rubber Workers, on strike against three of the Big 4 rubber companies at 39 plants in 36 cities, have a bargaining program that is “realistic, logical and attainable” and the union will continue to fight to get it, URW Pres. Peter Bommarito said here.
Contract talks continued as 50,000 pickets kept marching at plants of Firestone, Goodrich and Uniroyal, formerly the U.S. Rubber Co., but no immediate settlement seemed in sight, the union reported.
The strikes started Apr. 21. Employees of Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., fourth major tire firm, continued to work on a day-to-day basis without a contract. Workers at a Goodyear hose plant in North Chicago, Ill., struck briefly, but returned to their jobs after visiting other Goodyear locations.
Meanwhile, a Goodyear progress report to company executives on the negotiations was made public. It said the company had offered a two-year package of 23.5 cents an hour for tire plant workers, 18 cents for others.
Firestone and Uniroyal acknowledged that they had made similar offers.
Bommarito had said previously, without spelling out the terms, that the wage offer was inadequate. He called the lower offer for non-tire employes “an attempt to divide the union.”
The Goodrich report said the firm had offered “liberal” improvements in the supplemental unemployment benefits (SUB) program, but Bommarito said the “offer” was in the area of a fraction of a cent.
The URW has asked the Big 4 firms to make the SUB program the base for a new Full Employment Earnings Program (FEEP) giving laid-off workers 92.5 percent of their regular wages. Bommarito put the cost of FEEP at 2 to 3 cents an hour.
Goodrich said it offered to give one-year employes two weeks of vacation. It now takes three years of work to get two weeks of vacation.
Management said it offered to make numerous changes in contract language, but Bommarito said satisfactory working conditions are a major objective of the strikers—perhaps more important than substantial wage increases, with neither yet achieved.
Talks have started between the URW and the General Tire Co., fifth major firm. The contract deadline is May 15 but no progress was reported there, either.
The companywide strikes are the first since 1965, when the Uniroyal chain was shut down for six days. The same firm was closed in 1959, along with Firestone and Goodrich.
Current strikes involve wages, vacations, holidays and working conditions. Agreements on pensions, health and welfare are up for renegotiation next August.
In Superior Court Today
5-9-67
Picketing remains quiet and orderly in the borough today as negotiations between the United Rubber Workers and UniRoyal continue in Cincinnati.
Four trailer trucks and four U.S. Mail trucks entered and left the Warehouse on Elm St. yesterday afternoon without incident. Eleven other trucks approached the gates and the drivers turned away without entering.
The first truck to enter the gates was from Darcey’s, a Waterbury trucking concern. The second truck from Wilson Freight Co. out of New Haven, followed by an Elliot Bros. truck from Waterbury. The last truck was rented from a local dealer by Lombard Bros.
The truckers who turned away from the gates were greeted with calls from the picketers, “There goes a good Teamster.”
Although the picketers moved from the gates to let the trucks pass by without incident, catcalls could be heard. The trucks moved in and out of the gates all afternoon.
The freight cars that were moved into the Warehouse Friday have not as yet been moved out.
Local management of UniRoyal went into Waterbury Superior Court Friday to seek an injunction to restrain mass picketing after strikers demonstrated last week and sought to keep white collar workers from entering the Maple St. gates.
Judge Leo V. Gaffney ordered United Rubber Worker officials to appear in court this morning at 11 a.m. for a show cause hearing on the injunction sought by UniRoyal.
At that time he issued a warning to the union to halt mass picketing. Since Friday, only small teams of pickets have been stationed at the gates. For the past two days, white collar workers have crossed the picket lines with friendly remarks exchanged between the two groups.
The injunction sought today would ban mass picketing, close formation picketing and marching in the vicinity of the UniRoyal plants.
Some 5,500 employes are entering their third week of strike. No information as to how the negotiations are progressing or what the issues are, that hold up agreement on the master contract.
NAUGATUCK—A barrage of 19 trucks approached the Uniroyal warehouse gate on Elm St. during a three-and-one-half hour period Monday afternoon. Although 11 drivers turned away without entering, four trucks from private firms and four U. S. mail trucks passed through the lines of striking United Rubber Workers without incident, although catcalls could be heard.
Picket teams of approximately 13 people stood in front of the gate to halt the passage of the trucks, but quietly made way for those wishing to go in or out.
The relative quiet which pervaded the scene Monday afternoon may well affect the outcome of an injunction hearing scheduled for today in Waterbury.
Four freight cars, shoved into the warehouse Friday afternoon without stopping, are still in the warehouse, and according to sources are due to be shipped out, loaded, today.
During the period in which the trucks approached the gate Monday afternoon from about 1:30 to 5 p.m., negotiations were reportedly continuing in Cincinnati, although the negotiators could not be reached for comment Monday night.
The first truck to approach the gates, and the first to enter, was from Darcey, a Waterbury trucking firm. The second truck to enter was from a New Haven firm, the Wilson Freight Co. The Elliott Bros. Trucking Co. firm Waterbury and the Lombard Bros., who rented a truck from a local dealer, also entered the gates.
Most of those who turned away from large firms engaged in interstate commerce. When a truck from one of these outfits left, one of the pickets chortled, “There goes a good Teamster.”
Fur police patrols were at the gate at the time, under the leadership of Capt. Joseph Summa.
The scene Monday afternoon at the gate was in marked contrast to the clashes with police which marked the early morning hours of three days last week when pickets attempted to prevent white collar personnel from entering the Footwear plants on Maple St.
Following those three days of clashes, during which 71 pickets were arrested on charges of breach of peace, a hearing for the purpose of preventing mass picketing was held in Waterbury.
At that time, Judge Leo V. Gaffney issued a warning to pickets to stop mass picketing. Since that time picket teams have been small in number and management personnel has been allowed to enter the plants without incident.
5-9-67
DARCEY
TRANSPORT
CONN. R.I. & MASS
THE FIRST OF EIGHT Trucks to enter the gate at the Warehouse on Elm St., yesterday afternoon prepares to leave as picketers move aside. Four private trucks and four U.S. Mail trucks passed in and out of this gate during the afternoon without incident. —(News photo by Piscitelli)
5-9-67
Union officials and volunteer workers were busy in Naugatuck today distributing benefit checks to members of three union locals on strike against Uniroyal.
Lines were orderly at the headquarters of Locals 45, 218 and 308, United Rubber Workers of America. The workers have been on strike since April 21 against Uniroyal plants in Naugatuck and Beacon Falls.
Eight trucks yesterday afternoon passed without incident through picket lines at the Elm Street gate of Uniroyal’s Naugatuck plant. Four were United States mail trucks.
Drivers of 11 other trucks turned back, refusing to cross the picket line.
Pickets made way for drivers who insisted on entering the plant. There were catcalls from the pickets, but no violence.
Naugatuck police patrols, under Capt. Joseph Summa, were at the scene.
In Beacon Falls, a detail of State Police under Sgt. James Ferguson of the Bethany Barracks stood by as trucks entered and left. There was no disturbance and no jeering from the pickets.
Pickets at Naugatuck and Beacon Falls had been ordered by Raymond Mangacci, a union vice president, to avoid violence.
Five railroad freight cars that entered the central warehouse in Naugatuck Friday were still inside the plant today.
Thomas J. Nelligan, a Uniroyal spokesman, said the cars would be moved out when loaded.
The company plans to continue shipments by truck and rail, Nelligan said.
The calm that has prevailed this week contrasts with the near – roits of last Thursday and Friday, when 64 strikers were arrested.
Union VP Says:
5-10-67
Cy Blanchard, vice-president of Local 218, in an effort to straighten out some of the confusions surrounding strike benefits, issued the following explanation.
He said receipt of the $25 check depends on whether or not a member appeared for strike duty at least once every five days.
Many of the members, appearing for their checks yesterday, were told that in order to qualify for them they would have to serve on picket duty today before 3 p.m. to make up for lost picket time.
Blanchard stated that with a membership of 530 members available for picket duty, the schedule calls for each man to serve three hours, once very five days. Some members have only been on duty one three-hour period while others have done more than their share.
“We have denied no one benefits,” he said, adding “we are giving every member full opportunity to fulfill his picket obligations.”
Those who are unable to picket because of health or other reasons are put to work at other things to make everything fair, he said.
With each member doing a tour of duty once every five days, the Local is able to maintain a schedule of 110 pickets a day. Blanchard stated that he hoped every member would volunteer his services for picket duty to qualify. The duty must be continued in order to qualify.
The ruling of one three-hour period of picket duty, once every five days, has been cleared through Cincinnati, Blanchard noted.
NAUGATUCK — Some members of United Rubber Workers Local 218 reported evidence of confusion Tuesday over the question of receiving the weekly strike benefit of $25 .According to Vice President of Local 218, Cy Blanchard , receipt of the check depends on whether or not a member appeared for strike duty at least once every five days.
Many of the members, appearing for their benefit checks Tuesday, were told that in order to qualify for them they would have to serve today. They were told that they had until 3 p.m. today to make up lost picket time.
According to Blanchard, with only 530 members available for picket duty, it was necessary to schedule each man at least once every five days. Some men, he said, have appeared only once for a three-hour picket duty, while others have done more than their share.
He noted that although some members were surprised when they heard they had to serve again before qualifying for the checks, he thought it was each man’s duty as a union member to volunteer his services. It seems unfair, he said, that the man who has served only once gets the same benefit as the man who has served many times.
“We have not denied anyone any benefits,” said Blanchard, adding that “we are giving every member full opportunity” to fulfill his picket obligations.
There are some, he said, who are unable to picket because of health or other reasons, but these are also put to work to make everything fair.
Each member is being scheduled once every five days so that there are about 110 pickets every day, he said. He added that he hoped every member would volunteer his services for picket duty to qualify. This picket duty must be continued in order to continue to qualify, said Blanchard.
The ruling that each man picket for three hours once every five days was cleared through Cincinnati, said the Local vice president.
the strikers attempted to prevent white collar workers from entering the plant. The incidents led to the arrests of 71 pickets.
Fanton said the company’s decision to hold off on the injunction hearing was prompted largely by the relative calm which prevailed in picket lines at the plant Monday and Tuesday. He said there was “no serious interference with the employer’s operations” during those two days.
The union had been warned Friday by Judge Gaffney against any interference or violence.
5-1067 [handwritten notation]
NAUGATUCK—Officials and attorneys of Local 45, United Rubber Workers, are in Waterbury Superior Court today to oppose a company petition for an injunction prohibiting mass picketing at Uniroyal’s Footwear Division plant.
The hearing is scheduled before Judge Leo V. Gaffney. The union is now picketing under a restraint order issued by Judge Gaffney last Friday.
The order obtained by Uniroyal has blocked recurrence of the near-rioting of last Thursday and Friday which resulted in the arrest of some 70 union members.
Uniroyal has also instituted court proceedings seeking $1 million in damages from the union because of the strikers’ alleged interference with plant operations.
The pickets Friday also attempted to stop the company from shipping from the central warehouse. However, they were unsuccessful in preventing a string of freight cars from being switched into the warehouse for loading.
The pickets have complied with the restraining order and also followed the instructions of their leaders not to interfere with trucks entering and leaving the plant. Some trucking firms that are unionized and some, non-unionized made pickups from the main warehouse.
Drivers of some trucks, when apprised by captains of picket lines of the situation, refused to enter the gates. As they drove away, they were cheered by the strikers.
No report was forthcoming from Cincinnati on the progress of the contract talks, resumed Monday after a weekend recess. The strike by United Rubber Workers against Uniroyal is now in its 19th day.
NAUGATUCK—Uniroyal officials agreed Tuesday to continue for two weeks their Superior Court petition for an injunction against the United Rubber Workers Union to restrain mass picketing at the strike-bound footwear plant here.
The company accepted the agreement suggested by Judge Leo V. Gaffney “with the understanding that there will be no interference whatsoever with the (company’s) operations,” company attorney Dwight F. Fanton of Bridgeport said.
While Judge Gaffney spoke in Waterbury, picket teams at the borough remained quiet and small in number.
A repeat of Monday’s performance was staged again Tuesday when trucks were allowed to enter the warehouse on Elm St. without incident. Although the exact number of trucks approaching the gate were not known, it was learned that many drivers turned away, while some went through after contacting their dispatchers.
Five freight cars, shoved into the warehouse Friday, were still in the warehouse Tuesday, and it has not been learned when they are due to leave, although some thought they would be pulled out Tuesday.
Before giving court sanction to the continuance, Judge Gaffney warned the union that “In the event of any interference with the normal business of this company or any violence which would force the plaintiff into court to seek a restraining order…upon a showing of the evidence, I will issue such an order.”
The judge said that based on information he received during negotiations in chambers with company and union lawyers, “There is no doubt in my mind a case would have been established” supporting the issuance of an injunction.
He said he was “willing to go along” with the continuance in the hope that “good relations” which existed between the company and the union prior to the current strike “can be restored.”
The judge cautioned, however, that he will be available at any time, including Saturdays and Mondays when the court is not normally in session, to hear the case should the union violate terms of the agreement. “I will come from wherever I am and open court” he said.
He told the union that if it restricts the picket line “to a reasonable number of pickets, spaced properly, and there is no name calling, we won’t have any trouble here.”
He also warned that it is “incumbent upon the union to keep the…three or four agitators who are stirring up trouble…away from the picket line.” He said the names of the “agitators” are known to him and to union officials.
Although the Naugatuck operations have decided to continue their court petition, it was learned that injunctions have been granted to Uniroyal operations in Mishawaka, Ind., where there are 3,700 employes in one local. Injunctions have also been granted to two Uniroyal operations in Ohio and Alabama.
The injunction against Local 65 in Mishawaka was granted Friday when the company charged that pickets were interfering with office workers. Rumors that the National Guard had been called out in that town of 35,000 were denied by a local newspaper.
The injunction petition in Naugatuck was initiated by the company Friday after three days of clashes last week between pickets and police when
New Haven Reg. MAY 3, 1969
Register Photos by Stuart Langer
Violence, which began Thursday at the strikebound Naugatuck footwear plant of Uniroyal, continued today as 21 arrests were made. At left, Raymond Mengacci, vice president of Local 45, United Rubber Workers, with bullhorn urges striking employes to allow male office workers through the plant gates this morning. At right, office workers begin marching toward the company gates after waiting on the Naugatuck Green while company and union officials conferred about allowing them to enter. Some 25 policemen rushed between them and the strikers to prevent fighting. (Story on Page 1).
William Battles of Waterbury is dragged away from the Maple Street plant at Uniroyal by police after fighting broke out there today when strikers prevented office employes from crossing picket lines. Battles, who was charged with breach of peace by assault, was later taken to St. Mary’s Hospital, Waterbury, where he was treated and released.
NAUGATUCK—Among those arrested by the Naugatuck Police during the near riot Thursday at the gates of the Footwear Division, Uniroyal, were:
Raymond Mengacci, 47, 37 Fairchild St.; Cyrus J. Blanchard, 45, 46 Hill Road, Clifford Owens, 57, Wooster St.; Jose Pinho, 37, 129 Aetna St., all of Naugatuck.
Also: Frank Rodrigues, 36, 119 Walnut St., Naugatuck; John A. Gandolfo, 36, Narcissus Road, Middlebury; Robert G. Irving, 23, 19 Lines Hill Road; Ronald Kezelevich, 23, 16 Melbourne Court; Robert J. Mikulsis, 26, 29 Fern St.; Joseph J. Foley, 40, 190 Cherry St.; Michael Kalinoski, 49, 29 Fairchild St.; Franklin Mazuroski, 38, 63 Lester Drive, and Charles J. Butler, 49, Mulberry Street, all of Naugatuck.
And: John Sharkey, 37, 17 Martha St., Seymour; Donald Miles, 33, 84 Grand St., Seymour; Henry Hook, 37, 167 W. Church St., Seymour; Francisco Da Silva, 47, 20 Tolles Square, Naugatuck; Walter M. Scott, 36, 230 Pembroke Ave., Waterbury; James R. Dowling, 23, 87 Quinn St., Naugatuck; Guido Boschele, 55, Prout Hill Road, Naugatuck, and Albert Gomez, 38, 40 Cherry St., Waterbury.
James Faroni, 57, 39 Florence St.; Joseph A. Sciarretto, 46, 19 Baldwin St.; Carl Ostrom, 32, 628 New Haven Road; John M. Delcrosso, 41, 66 Greenwood St.; Harry C. Chofey, 42, 13 Surrey Drive; Thomas Lagonick, 51, Candee Road, all of Naugatuck.
And: William D. Mariano, 52, 31 Yale Ave., Middlebury; John Brazil, 43, 51 Alma St.; John Dillon, 57, 149 Wedgewood Drive; John Henan, 30, 194 Maple St., all of Naugatuck; George Petro, 30, Bradley Lane, Prospect; Nicholas Cesarello, 53, 122 Norton St., Waterbury; Lee Mattocks, 37, 18 Winchester St., Waterbury, and Joseph J. Kaczkowski, 57, 106 Morris St., Naugatuck.
Alexander Zdonick, 41, 57 Johnson St.; Harold Soucie, 40, 376 N. Main St.; John Cariello, 37, 19 Baldwin St.; Hugh R. Ga-
[Column continues with partial text visible:]
rahan, 29, 21 […]
tin C. Cross, 48,
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Court, June 8.
5-10-67
Superior Court Judge Leo V. Gaffney yesterday continued for two weeks the petition of Uniroyal for an injunction against the United Rubber Workers Union to restrain mass picketing at the strike-bound footwear plant in Naugatuck.
The company accepted the agreement suggested by Judge Gaffney “with the understanding that there will be no interference whatsoever with the company’s operations,” Dwight F. Fanton of Bridgeport, company attorney, said today.
Judge Gaffney, at a “show cause” hearing yesterday in Waterbury, siad he felt issuing a restraining order was not necessary at this time.
Judge Gaffney said he will be available should the situation change.
Union officials are to notify picket captains of the continuance.
While Gaffney heard testimony from both sides, pickets at the Borough plant remained quiet and small in number. This was in contrast to last week when pickets rioted for 2 days in opposition to the company’s plan to resume shipping.
Three locals of the United Rubber Workers, representing about 5,000 employes, have been on strike since April 21 as part of a nationwide walkout affecting 50,000 workers.
Judge Gaffney told union officials that it is their right to have picket captains use their powers of persuasion to prevent carrier drivers from crossing picket lines.
“But there is to be no loud or threatening language or bodily harm,” the judge said.
Present at Hearing
Present at the hearing were John M. Smith, plant manager; Thomas J. Nelligan, industrial relations representative, and Atty. Fanton.
Raymond Mengacci, William Fernandez and Daniel Baker represented the union.
Also in attendance were Naugatuck Police Chief Frank J. Mariano and Capt. Joseph J. Summa.
A check of local and area retail merchants showed no appreciable drop in business volume to date.
Mengacci told The Sentinel that the company offered a 12½ cent an hour increase for the tire workers and nine cents for other production employes.
It was not learned whether the offer was made before the strike or during the present negotiations.
Management would not comment on the statement, explaining there is an agreement between union and management that only joint statements are to be issued on the negotiations.
5-11-67
NAUGATUCK—Picketing at the three strikebound Uniroyal plants in the borough continues to be quiet and, for the third straight day, striking United Rubber Workers allowed trucks to pass through the warehouse gates on Elm St. without incident.
Although a word from the picket team captains discouraged five trucks from entering the gates, eight passed through as strikers moved aside.
It was noted that some of the drivers who passed through were accompanied by men wearing white shirts. In one case, the driver, according to pickets, wanted to honor the picket lines and offered to let the co-driver take the truck through. The co-driver claimed he did not know how to drive the truck, and the driver, according to pickets, took the truck in “with protest.”
While pickets manned their posts in Naugatuck, negotiations were supposedly continuing in Cincinnati. The negotiators, however, have not been available for comment of any type since Friday.
At midnight today, the strikers will enter the fourth week of picketing. Although police and
pickets clashed in the early hours of three days last week, most of the strike has been quiet.
An injunction hearing scheduled for Tuesday was suspended when management decided everything was quiet. Superior Court Judge Leo V. Gaffney warned, however, against further incidents, adding that he would open court at any time to issue the injunction if it was deemed necessary.
5-12-67
Editor
Naugatuck Daily News
Dear Sir:
After reading the “Letter to the Editor” of May 11th 1967 in your newspaper, I know now that you are on a ONE WAY STREET.”
This unidentified person (name withheld) states that the white collar worker also pays the local “Gendarmes” salaries, I agree, but compared to the blue collared workers, they can be counted on your fingers. This “Ingrate” is a very uninformed person. If it were not for members (of International Rubber Workers) like Local #45 we would have no pensions large or small for them to enjoy during their retirement, as far as the cost of living going up where has this “ingrate” been? Long before we went to the bargaining table the cost of living had gone up. As not being informed by the Union as to what we are striking for, why doesn’t he or she come up (or call) the Union Hall? Perhaps the “ingrate” is ashamed?
As for renewing the old contract and voting a NO strike vote he (or she) should be ashamed of themselves. If we send our Policy Committee to the bargaining table without a vote of confidence from the people back home, we might as well go back to the days of depression, when we or our parents worked as slaves for 20 – 25¢ an hour, we would have no benefits as they did and couldn’t afford some of these luxuries we now enjoy.
If this “ingrate” (that’s all I can say for this person) is so much against what the Union is trying to get for them, then I say when everyone else accepts these gains the said “ingrate” should get up and forfeit said gains and when the “ingrate’s spouse secures more benefits (due to the fact the blue collar worker have it) the spouse also should reject such gain and then stand up and be counted! I’m sure they will be alone.
One more thing, I’ll bet this “ingrate” never even did any picket duty, but probably was one of the FIRST in line for strike Benefits!
Another point, we’re not that bad that we have to burn your house down, we are Union Members of Locals #45 – 218 – 308 and do not do things out of Hatred, but because we are interested in our jobs, present and future. I’m not ashamed of anything I’ve done on behalf of Local #45 and you have my permission to print my name to this letter.
Jose F. Pinho
129 Aetna St.
May 5, 1967
Editor
Naugatuck Daily News
Church St.
Naugatuck, Conn.
member of our local union.
Yours truly,
Mrs. Sara Fortunato
361 Cherry St. Ext.
P. S. – I am a subscriber of the Naugatuck Daily News, so please print this letter.
Thank you.
5-8-67 [handwritten notation]
Dear Editor:
I have always admired the Naugatuck Police Force, but since I have witnessed the way they have been treating the employees of the UNIROYAL, Co., now on strike, I sure have my doubts about some of them, and would like to ask these two questions.
Why are we paying their salaries?
To be beaten and arrested by the so-called “Pride of Naugatuck?”
I believe these are two good questions to be answered by the same police force, to the employees of the UniRoyal Co.,
5-18-67 [handwritten notation at top]
NAUGATUCK—Although rumors ran rampant throughout the borough Thursday to the effect that B. F. Goodrich Rubber Co. was approaching settlement with United Rubber Worker negotiators on its master contract, the rumor remained unconfirmed. Many thought that if B. F. Goodrich reached a settlement, Uniroyal, Inc., would also probably settle soon.
For the seventh straight day, negotiators involved with Uniroyal could not be reached in Cincinnati, where the negotiations are taking place. It is not known whether the United Rubber Workers and Uniroyal are making progress in the negotiations.
It was reported, however, that talks continued Thursday between the major rubber producers and the union. There was no announcement whether negotiations would recess for the weekend as they did last weekend.
In the borough, pickets continued in a peaceful vein, permitting trucks to enter and leave the gates. The procedure was the same as has been observed throughout the week, with the team captain approaching the truck drivers to inform them of the situation. Although drivers turned away, those who did go through, were allowed to without incident.
Besides Uniroyal, the companies struck are B. F. Goodrich and the Firestone Tire and Rubber Co. Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. is continuing production on a day-to-day basis.
General Tire and Rubber Co.’s contract with URW does not expire until Monday, but talks have been in progress since last month.
About 45,000 Americans a year die from kidney failure.
Australia has 3.5 billion tons of bauxite reserves.
Fighting breaks out at Maple Street entrance to Uniroyal plant.
MAY 5, 1967 N.H. Reg.
By JAMES FLEMING
Register Staff Reporter
NAUGATUCK — Fighting broke out at the Maple Street plant of Uniroyal for the second day in a row, and 21 employes were arrested. Fifty were arrested Thursday.
It was later learned that Uniroyal will seek a restraining order in Superior Court in Waterbury today in an attempt to limit the union to a maximum of three pickets at each gate.
Brawling began at 6:50 a.m. today when office personnel attempted to cross picket lines. Pickets who had been circling near the entrance massed at the gate when the salaried workers tried to get into the company grounds.
Police struggled with pickets as they attempted to open lanes for the workers, and several fights broke out between the strikers and the police. Seven policemen were needed to subdue one worker, William Battles, 37, of Waterbury, who was charged with breach of peace by assault. He was taken to St. Mary’s Hospital in Waterbury afterward where he was treated and released after complaining of stomach pains.
Lt. George Smith went to St. Mary’s for examination after he told Chief Frank Mariano he had been kicked twice in the groin.
As more office employes arrived, company officials told them to wait on the nearby Naugatuck Green while management and union leaders conferred on allowing them to enter. About 300 employes walked to the Green, about half a block away in small groups.
Tension mounted in front of the plant while small groups of women pickets marched carrying signs hung around their necks and sang improvised songs such as “Go home boys in blue” aimed at the police.
Meanwhile, individual office workers without realizing that the others were waiting on the Green, would try to pass through the gate and would be pushed aside.
One woman screamed at the pickets, “Save your strength; you’ll need it when you go back to work.”
Suddenly, the 300 persons on the Green began returning to the plant spontaneously in a massed group and the strikers began yelling as they saw them approaching. Some 25 policemen —half the total force in Naugatuck—rushed into the street between the two groups along with a Uniroyal official and told the office employes to go back to the Green.
The strikers continued to press forward to meet the office workers until the other group went back to the Green.
About half an hour later, the office workers again moved toward the plant and the strikers came toward them. Raymond
See UNIROYAL Page 2
the middle between the union l office personnel.
esterday’s scuffling nned from union concerns t Uniroyal would try to ship rchandise from a struck ehouse. In the morning, hing began as office em-yes tried to enter the build-pass. Later in the day, a U.S. mail truck was blocked when it tried to leave the company grounds. The pickets converged on it but let it pass after a few minutes’ delay.
(Continued from Page 1)
Mengacci, vice president of Local 45, United Rubber Workers, warned strikers that state troopers would be called if the office help were not permitted to enter the plant. He said, “The union had come to an agreement to let male office workers in, but 150 women office workers would have to go home.”
“No, no, we won’t let them in,” was shouted by many of the strikers. Mengacci warned there might be “bloodshed” if it became necessary for the State Police to restrain the workers. One angry worker retorted, “Custer made his last stand; we’ll make it here.”
Mengacci said any violence would be useless, since the company was trying to get an injunction to prevent the pickets from blocking employes who wanted to enter the plant.
Cyrus Blanchard, vice president of Local 308 at the Uniroyal Chemical plant across town also pleaded with the strikers. The male salaried workers began filtering into the plant with little resistance at about 8:30 a.m., although some were bumped as they passed pickets. The women workers had already started home and did not try to come in with the men.
The scene then quieted, although the pickets and other striking employes maintained their vigil outside the gates.
Seventeen of the 21 arrested today were charged with breach of the peace and were released on cash bonds of $150 each, posted by union officials. On Thursday, arrested employes were freed without posting bond.
In contrast to Thursday, when all of those arrested walked over to the police station a block away, today four had to be dragged, although most went quietly. The four were charged with breach of the peace by assault, and their bonds were $200 each.
Mengacci and William Fernandes, a union representative, will appear in Superior Court this afternoon, when the company seeks to obtain a restraining order.
The strike is in now its 15th day. Negotiations are being conducted on a national level in Cincinnati where issues involve a guaranteed annual wage.
To maintain order, Chief Mariano has brought in added policemen on an overtime basis as well as supernumeraries. Many of the policemen involved in the fighting are related to the strikers and one patrolman said, “I have half my family working there.”
A number of the policemen complained about being caught in the middle between the union and office personnel.
Yesterday’s scuffling stemmed from union concerns that Uniroyal would try to ship merchandise from a struck warehouse. In the morning, pushing began as office employes tried to enter the building. Later in the day, a U.S. mail truck was blocked when it tried to leave the company grounds. The pickets converged on it but let it pass after a few minutes’ delay.
5-4-67
PUSHING AND SHOVING against each other, police and pickets in front of the Maple St. entrance of UniRoyal’s Footwear Division resulted in the arrest of 43 strikers this morning. In the foreground is a picket being hustled off to the Police Station by Police Officer Thomas Hunt, presumably to be booked for breach of the peace. Huddled in the background are masses of pickets and police. The latter group was able to break the picket line long enough for a number of management personnel and office workers to gain entrance. (See photo below.) —(News photo by Jensen)
5-5-67
Naugatuck police arrested 21 men this morning after the second scuffle in two days outside the Maple Street gate of the struck Uniroyal plant.
One man was taken to a hospital.
Officers of the striking United Rubber Workers of America, Local 45, were ordered to appear this afternoon in Superior Court, Waterbury.
They were to respond to an order sought by the company, directing them to show cause why mass picketing should not be prohibited.
The three officers of the Rubber Workers’ union summoned to appear are Raymond Mengacci, vice president of Local 45; Antoinette Zuccarelli, secretary, and Rita Ruggero, treasurer.
Forty – three strikers were arrested yesterday.
Today’s disturbance, like yesterday’s, broke out when pickets tried to prevent office workers and management personnel from entering the plant.
Women pickets shoulder to shoulder were on the north side of Maple Street. Male pickets were on the south side, also in tight formation.
Supervisory personnel milled around on the sidewalk on the south side.
When some of the supervisory employes attempted to enter after Capt. Joseph J. Summa read the “riot act” warning the pickets to disperse, the battling between police and pickets began.
The women pickets were singing. The baiting continued until Police Chief Frank J. Mariano arrived. He called the union and company officials together and they went inside the plant.
When they came out, Summa ordered all the company personnel to leave Maple Street and assemble on the nearby green.
PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 13
NAUGATUCK—It was reported Wednesday that United Rubber Workers Local 218 armed its negotiators Tuesday with authority to call a strike should contract negotiations with Uniroyal management fail to produce an agreement by the contract expiration date.
Negotiations opened Tuesday in Cincinnati, with the three local Rubber Workers Union represented at the conference. The present contract, signed in June, 1965, expires April 20.
A spokesman said the local, representing workers at the Naugatuck Chemical Division, approved the strike vote by a vote of 490 to 70.
[Handwritten notation in upper right corner appears to read: “3-3” or similar numbers]
5-5-67
THREE OF 21 pickets arrested this morning in the Uniroyal strike in Naugatuck are hustled off to Police Headquarters to be booked on charges of breach of peace. At least two pickets claimed injuries as a result of the activities.
—Coviello Photo.
6-10-67 (handwritten)
NAUGATUCK—United Rubber Workers negotiators Friday rejected a new three-year contract proposal offered by the five major rubber producers, including Uniroyal.
This is apparently the second time during the week that the union has rejected company proposals.
URW Pres. Peter Bommarito termed Friday’s offer “inadequate” and said the union would continue its strike against Uniroyal, B. F. Goodrich and Firestone.
A statement appearing in a local newspaper Friday, attributed to Bommarito, said that the union was prepared to strike another 30 days.
While many of the striking United Rubber Workers in the borough expressed dismay about the possibility that they would have to continue the strike that much longer, Local 45 officials expressed reservations about whether Bommarito had said this.
One official, contacted Friday night, said that an attempt to check out the statement brought no results and it could not be determined whether Bommarito had made the remark.
A letter sent to Footwear Plant workers Thursday by Factory Manager John Smith stated that the union had rejected a three-year proposal Tuesday. Upon rejecting the proposal, said Smith, the union presented a counter proposal.
Management then apparently made a second proposal which, according to press services, was rejected during Friday’s session.
Talks between the URW and the rubber companies recessed until Monday.
In his letter to Footwear employes, Smith stated that the three-year proposal by the company offered wage increases, additional pay for skilled workers, liberalized vacation pay, supplemental unemployment benefits up to 75 per cent of average pay, a 60 per cent increase in regular pensions, an increase in company-paid life insurance, an increase in the coverage for the maximum stay in the hospital from 365 to 730 days, an increase in sickness and accident benefits and other items.
Wage increases in the tire plants, said Smith, amounted to 38 cents over three years, and in non-tire plants they amounted to 31 cents. The management also offered two weeks vacation pay for employes with one year of seniority and three weeks for employes with five years.
Miscellaneous contract clauses, he added, included “up to 40 hours pay depending on the size of the plant for union time study men.”
Regular pensions were increase a 60 per cent from $3.25 to $5.25 per month per year of service, said Smith.
These increases, said Smith “total about 70 cents per hour over a three-year period. This is approximately a five per cent yearly increase in wages and benefits for employes over the entire three years,” added the manager.
A Uniroyal spokesman said Friday the UFW’s demands would cost “at least $1.40 an hour.”
The union estimated that General Tire and Rubber Co.’s offer, which includes wage increases averaging 40 cents an hour over three years, will cost the company 63 or 64 cents an hour.
The companies Friday valued their offers at more than 70 cents an hour.
6-13-67
NAUGATUCK— Bargaining sessions between the United Rubber Workers and five major rubber producers, including Uniroyal, reopened Monday in Ohio as a strike against three of the companies entered its 53rd day.
Although negotiators for the URW and Uniroyal management could either not be contacted or refused to comment Monday night, reliable sources pointed to the progress made during the past week and held out hope that a settlement might be reached before another week passes.
Although union members in the borough have expected that pensions would be discussed in September offers from the rubber companies, including Uniroyal, have lately included the pension and fringe benefit items.
Management sources have indicated a reluctance to face the cost of wage increases with the possible threat of a second strike in September over pension items.
While the latest word from Uniroyal was that wage increases in its offer were 38 cents for tire workers and 31 for non-tire workers it was learned that General Tire had boosted its wage increases to 40 cents for tire workers.
General Tire, however, has only 3,000 workers in two tire plants. In addition, General Tire is said to have boosted its supplemental unemployment benefits to 80 per cent, and offered a provision for six weeks of vacation for employes with over 30 years service.
It could not be determined Monday night whether Uniroyal had made a similar offer.
Reliable sources have called General Tire and Goodyear, who are both working on a day-to-day basis, pattern companies.
According to the sources, a settlement between the URW and these companies is expected to set a pattern for settlement with Uniroyal, B. F. Goodrich and Firestone, the struck companies.
During the past two weeks, all companies have been talking a three-year pact with the union, and some union sources have indicated a feeling that the final settlement would be for three years.
Local 45 Vice President Raymond Mengacci, in a statement to local newspapers Monday, said that although he didn’t want to enter a debate with Footwear Plant manager John Smith, he felt compelled to answer a letter sent to employes last week by the company.
Mengacci noted that both the company and the union committees “were having a hard enough time in Cincinnati, Ohio, to negotiate an agreement in Naugatuck,” without doing it through the newspapers.
Mengacci said when the union negotiating committee left for Cincinnati it was for the sole purpose of making a sincere effort to negotiate a contract and wage agreement with Uniroyal before the April 20 deadline. Negotiations began in Cincinnati March 21, and “it wasn’t until April 12 that the company made its first and final offer to the union on contract and wages, eight days before the deadline.
“This,” Mengacci stated, “has never happened in the history of my experiences on the negotiating committee or that of Pres. George Froehlich, that the first offer was also the last. No one can call this negotiating. This has never been done before. It wasn’t until a few days later that the union found out that this was being done in all of the Big Four rubber companies, not just Uniroyal. The union also found out these companies had made a mutual pact designed to protect any struck company against financial losses.
“We in the union were always led to believe these companies were in competition with one another, but found it is not so. They have a much better union than we have.”
Plant Manager Smith, in his letter, said the company had made an effort to open the pension and insurance agreement. “This, Mengacci said, “was correct, but the union informed the company this agreement does not terminate until Sept. 15, 1967, and the union was in no position to negotiate this agreement as it had not been discussed with their membership to determine what changes were wanted. Also they had made no preparation on pension and insurance to discuss this question intelligently with the company.
“Mr. Smith stated the union did not present to the company their full proposal until 11 a.m. April 19, just 37 hours before the strike deadline. This is correct, but why? The union felt if they received from the company the correct interpretation of the clauses in the working agreement now, and the way they were intended to be interpreted, at least in the union’s viewpoint, before there was a change in the head negotiator for the company, they would not have to make any changes.
“The union found out the company’s new head negotiator was not given the same interpretation. Therefore, the union came in with some new proposals as the union would not be able to live with some of the interpretations that were given to the new head negotiator, under Article 9, working conditions.
“These conditions are important to our members especially those working in the making and stitching departments. Production in many cases has increased by 25 to 30 per cent in the last few years, with the same amount of operators and in many cases less.
“Many of the employes can verify their weekly earnings are less now even though they have received two wage increases in the past few years. They cannot make anywhere near the efficiency they were making a few years ago and this is the reason the union had to make some late proposals to the company. If the company wanted to make a sincere effort to reach an agreement, they still had plenty of time to do so.”
Mengacci asserted the union does not believe the non-tire plants are putting the company in a “severe economic squeeze,” if they grant the same wage increases as the tire companies.” He noted wages increase of 41.6 per cent have been given to George R. Vila, president of Uniroyal, and 36.6 per cent to Walter D. Baldwin, vice president. “The union is not saying these men do not deserve the increase, but if the company wants to talk percentages, then talk percentages from top to bottom,” the Union official said.
“We are happy the company has seen fit to increase the vacation allowance for employes with one to five years of seniority, but what about the employe with 10 or more years of seniority.”
The union official also said that, although the company had improved some of the contract clauses, the union questions why the company would not give a letter of commitment, “which would not cost a penny to treat union members with decency and respect. If management expects our members to treat them with decency and respect, then we expect the same treatment. A written commitment would have gone a long way in reaching a settlement.”
No comments were made on the pension and insurance pact offered by the company. Mengacci said it had to be studied before a statement was made. However, he said he “was happy to see the company is negotiating with the union, even though it took from April 12 to June 5 to make their latest offer. The union rejection was a take-it-all or reject-it-all offer, which the union could not live with.
“I can assure Mr. Smith that George Froehlich and the rest of the union’s committee of Local 45 will do everything in their power to bring this dispute to a settlement as fast as possible,” Mengacci concluded.
Local 45 President George Froehlich has foregone the negotiating session today in Cincinnati, Ohio to meet with the membership of his union this afternoon at 3 o’clock in the high school auditorium.
Froehlich announced Saturday that he will conduct a briefing session for the membership on the status of the negotiations.
Reportedly the sessions last week broke off Friday in a stalemate. Froehlich said that although he could not paint a bright picture for his people today, he was always hopeful for a settlement.
Froehlich confirmed that one of the main stumbling blocks to settlement is working conditions. However, he said this is only one of the problems being negotiated.
The meeting today is for the membership only, with the public and press reportedly barred.
The record-breaking rubber industry strike is now entering its 60th day. URW Locals voted Saturday to strike General Tire’s Waco, Texas, plant at midnight tonight and its Akron, Ohio, plant at midnight Wednesday. URW workers at these plants had been working without a contract on a day-to-day basis previously.
With this latest URW move, only one of the “big five” rubber companies is maintaining regular production. The Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. employes are continuing to work on a day-to-day basis.
URW President Peter Bommarito, who describes the union demands as “attainable,” said his men want higher increases and a 95 per cent supplementary plan.
Picketing at the borough plants of UniRoyal has remained quiet and peaceful with striking URW members taking their turn on the picket line as matter of course.
A report from Akron said that 75 URW members have been accepted for Summit County welfare payments. Many others are said to be filling out applications for welfare.
Locally, the Welfare Department reported an increase in
its payments to outside poor; however, Supt. of Welfare Katherine Brennan reported this was
not entirely due to strikers added to the rolls.
Please turn to Page 10
Continued From Page 1 6-A
The Welfare Department is watching its budget carefully to see whether it will need additional funds to help our URW members.
Long-Range Peace
NAUGATUCK — Talks on a master contract between the United Rubber Workers and Uniroyal are scheduled to resume today. There were no talks between company and union negotiators Monday.
In Detroit, striking Uniroyal workers, discouraged by the lack of progress in the talks, prevented management personnel from entering the plant.
An estimated 1,300 strikers took part in a demonstration which included egg throwing. Police were at the scene, but no arrests were made, although some of the policemen were reportedly hit by the eggs.
Uniroyal management in the borough is scheduled to appear in court today in Waterbury to show cause why an injunction against the Naugatuck plants should not be issued.
Handwritten notation in top right corner: 6-27-67
A hearing was to resume this morning in Waterbury Superior Court on an application by the United Rubber Workers for an injunction against Uniroyal, Inc., which has plants in Beacon Falls and Naugatuck.
The union filed its application last Thursday, after the company began production of samples of new footwear designs.
The company agreed at that time to halt production until after a court hearing.
The hearing opened Tuesday before Judge Leo V. Gaffney. Three hours of testimony was taken in the afternoon from three union members.
At the center of the controversy is a written agreement, signed April 18 by both parties, three days before the nationwide rubber workers’ strike began.
The agreement provides for the orderly shutdown and maintenance of the Naugatuck Footwear plant during the strike.
It includes a clause stipulating that “the company agrees that for the duration of the strike there will be no work performed by nonbargaining unit employes that is normally performed by bargaining unit personnel.”
Local 45 of the URW maintains last Thursday’s production violates the agreement.
Company Defense
While not clearly stating what its defense would be, the company yesterday indicated it would argue the April 18 agreement was voided when the union allegedly violated a provision intended to insure unimpeded entrance and exit to the plant through specified gates.
Three days of clashes between union members and police early in May, when pickets attempted to keep office personnel from entering the plant, resulted in the arrest of 71 union members and a warning from Judge Gaffney that he would issue an injunction against the union if the violence was not stopped.
In testimony yesterday, Raymond Mengacci, vice president of Local 45, said he had “no doubt” violence would erupt at the plant unless the court issues an order restraining the company from producing sample shoes with nonunion supervisory personnel.
“We will have some very bad violence. You can expect bloodshed in Naugatuck,” Mengacci said.
Service—Use Sentinel Want Ads
6-28-67 [handwritten]
Uniroyal, Inc. will suffer a very severe financial loss “forcing a reduction in production” at its Naugatuck Footwear plant if it is not permitted to produce samples of its new designs, a company official said today.
Thomas J. Nelligan, labor relations manager, testified at a Superior Court hearing this morning that failure of the company to have samples to show its customers in August will mean a very large drop in the amount of production needed for the coming year and “in turn less employes.”
Nelligan was the first company representative to testify at a hearing to consider United Rubber Workers Union application for an injunction against the company production.
He said samples for next summer’s market would normally have been produced between April and July of this year.
He said salesmen would have been scheduled to take the samples into the field beginning Aug. 1.
Without the samples, he said the company will have no way of proving “to its buyers that its line is better than its competitors.”
At the opening of the session Tuesday before Judge Leo V. Gaffney, a Local 45 official predicted “there would be bloodshed in Naugatuck if the company is permitted to resume production with non-union members.”
The union filed its application for an injunction against Uniroyal last Thursday after the company began production of samples of new footwear designs. The company agreed at that time to halt production until after a court hearing.
April 18 Agreement
At the core of the controversy is a written agreement signed by both parties April 18, three days before the nation-wide rubber workers strike began.
The agreement provides for orderly shutdown and maintenance of the borough Footwear Plant during the strike.
It includes a clause stipulating that “the company agrees that for the duration of any strike there will be no work performed by non-bargaining unit employes that is normally performed by bargaining unit personnel.”
Local 45 claims Thursday’s production violates that agreement.
While not clearly stating what its defense would be, the company Tuesday indicated it will argue that the April 18 agreement was rendered void when the union allegedly violated a provision intended to insure unimpeded entrance and exit to the plant through certain gates.
(Cont’d on Page 2—UNIROYAL)
By Ruth Nichols
Production at the UniRoyal Footwear plant will be suspended for at least another week to allow time for briefs to be filed and Judge Leo V. Gaffney to come to a decision on whether a restraining injunction should be granted against the firm.
Two days of testimony from both Local 45 and UniRoyal Footwear Division management ended yesterday afternoon in Waterbury Superior Court. Judge Gaffney asked that written briefs be submitted to him by next Wednesday by both attorneys and stated that he will make his decision within a couple of days after reviewing the briefs and transcripts of the court proceedings.
Local 45 ended its testimony yesterday after calling Joseph Foley to the stand. Foley, a 21-year employe of the plant, member of the Union negotiating team and strike captain, was questioned on what might happen if the company was allowed to produce sample shoes.
Foley told the court that there would be violence on the picket line. He also testified that large numbers of supervisory personnel passed through the picket lines daily without incident.
Atty. J. Kenneth Bradley opened UniRoyal’s testimony by calling Thomas Nelligan, Labor Relations Manager, to the stand.
Nelligan told the court that 4,500 footwear plant employes are out on strike while 850 non-bargaining employes are working. All UniRoyal plants in the borough, with the exception of the footwear plant, are producing.
Nelligan cited the need for the sample shoes by August 1st. If the shoes were not ready to show by that date, according to Nelligan, there would be a reduction of production and a need for less employes.
Nelligan, under questioning, stated that if production of samples was allowed there would be no loss to striking employes but their wages. The Judge ruled that this answer should be stricken. Nelligan said he had no way of knowing what the cost to URW members and their families would be overall.
Nelligan said that these sample shoes could not be produced elsewhere. That it would take about 200 people, six weeks to two months to produce the necessary number of sample shoes. He said the bargaining people had been offered, through the union, the work first.
Factory Manager Jack Smith told the court that it was Monday or Tuesday of last week that the decision was made to start production on sample shoes.
Attorney Daniel Baker, URW counsel, questioned Nelligan about production at other UniRoyal plants. He asked if these samples couldn’t be made at one of the other company shoe producing plants that was currently in production.
Nelligan told the court that this was not possible because a different type of shoe was made at these plants.
Baker then opened the question of management starting its inventory using non-bargaining personnel. He also returned to the subject of the “Gray Building.”
How many shoes were produced in the building? Nelligan stated that the first three or four sample shoes were made in the building. The union sought inspection of the “gray building.”
Judge Gaffney asked if a member of the Industrial Relations Department accompanied the union inspection team on its tour.
Smith told the court about the pickets not allowing personnel into the plant in the early days of the strike. He said on the first day of mass picketing he conferred with Naugatuck Police Capt. Joseph Summa and sent management personnel home. He said all this occurred after the union had been notified 24-hours in advance of the company’s intention to ship.
Smith testified that on the May 15th meeting with union representatives, the company made known its intention to start production, first offering the work to bargaining personnel. He told the court he, at that time, told the union he believed there was no longer an agreement; however, it was then believed settlement was imminent and the company did not press for production.
Again on the subject of sample shoes, Smith said that production could not be carried on in the “Keds” line, produced here in the borough, in another company plant without moving equipment in large numbers to another location.
Smith spoke of the work the union had allowed to continue in the “Gray Building.” He said that the union knew that certain materials were produced in the main plant to carry on this work and hadn’t objected.
He said that this was the only footwear plant in the United States to be shut down and declared it was necessary to have sample shoes ready by the August 1st date.
Smith said that if samples were not ready, salesmen would miss sales and this, in turn, would lower sales, lower fill-in sales, and thus reduce production in the Naugatuck Footwear plant.
Smith, again questioned about the agreement and the May 15th meeting, told the Judge that he did not remember coming back into the meeting room after making a telephone call and telling union representative that he would “honor the agreement.”
Baker asked Smith had he given the union 24-hours notice of intent to ship. And had not the company made an oral agreement that no personnel would enter the plant after 6 p.m.
Then Baker asked had not the fact that personnel came into the
Please Turn to Page 12
BEACON FALLS – Captain Walter C. Carlson of Beacon Hose Co. No. 1 has announced that members will attend the Firemen’s Parade in Oxford this evening.
Members are requested to meet at the firehouse at 6:30 in full dress uniforms.
8-10-63 [handwritten]
NAUGATUCK —The chairman and president of Uniroyal, Inc. reported in a letter to stockholders this weekend that the impact of the 81-day strike on earnings and income is severe.
George R. Vila, chairman and president, said that the “impact on earnings is severe because fixed costs in the striking plants continue without the production necessary to absorb them. As a consequence, net income for the second quarter will be sharply lower than the $1.06 a common share in 1966.”
Raymond Mengacci, executive vice president of Local 45 UIW, said today that he had read the letter and was not surprised at its content.
He said that the letter was almost the same as forwarded to the striking employes of the Footwear Division in May. He also said that it contained the original offer made by the company to URW and to his knowledge the offer has not been changed since then. Many of the strikers are also share holders of Uniroyal under a co-operative stock plan.
The 19 plants idle due to the strike represent about 50 per cent of the employes and over 70 per cent of sales in the United States, Vila said.
“When the strike was called, the company had sizeable inventories in many product lines which helped to cushion the impact on sales,” he explained.
Negotiations with the union started March 21 with initial union demands for wage increases and employee benefits of more than $1.40 per hour for a two-year period, exclusive of pensions and insurance, Vila told the stockholders.
“Several days before the strike deadline of April 20, the company offered a proposal on wages and benefits which totalled 28 cents per hour for a two-year period,” he said. The company estimated that a new pension and insurance agreement to be negotiated in September would add between 20 and 25 cents per hour. The total increased cost would be about 50 cents per hour over a two-year period. The union rejected the offer prior to the deadline.
The company proposed that the employes continue to work while negotiations proceeded. However, this was also rejected.
The company offered on June 5 a three-year contract covering 12 principal points. It totals approximately 72 cents per hour including pensions and insurance, the chairman said.
“It involves increases of 10.5 per cent for the first year, 2.2 per cent the second and 2.2 per cent the third year. This offer has also been rejected by the union,” he said.
Contract Proposals
Specific proposals include the following: wages — in tire plants, an increase of 16 cents per hour in 1967, 11 cents in 1968 and 11 in 1969. In non-tire plants, an increase of 13 cents, followed by two yearly increases of 9 cents.
Skilled trades — 10 cent increases in addition to the above increases, in 1967; vacation pay — two weeks pay for employes with one year of seniority and three weeks vacation pay for five years. The present provision of four weeks pay after 15 years and five weeks after 25 years would continue.
There would also be supplemental unemployment benefits increased from 65 per cent of average pay (plus up to $2 for up to four dependents, with a maximum payment of $50) to 75 per cent of average pay with no maximums for all employes on regular layoff, plus other provisions. The company contributions to the supplemental unemployment fund would be increased from five cents to six cents per hour when the fund falls below 100 per cent. The fund increased from $250 to $350 per employe.
A 60 per cent increase in regular pensions from $3.25 to $5.25 per month per year of service was included. A 60 per cent increase in disability pensions from $6.50 to $10.50 per month per year of service, and an increase of $1.50 per month per year of service for living pensioners who were retired after July 1, 1950.
Other increases included those affecting life insurance, hospitalization, X-ray and radium therapy, visiting nurse, surgical payments and sickness and accident benefits.
AKRON, Ohio (UPI) — Negotiations were to resume today in the 80-day old rubber industry strike with a warning from a union official here that the walkout could spread.
John Nardella, president of Local 2, United Rubber Workers, said “a strong possibility” existed a strike deadline would be called in negotiations with the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.
Other union sources indicated the deadline might be midnight Wednesday.
Nardella said Goodyear negotiators had indicated the company was ready to make a move on its offer, but had not yet done so.
Nardella gave a detailed report Sunday to the Local 2 membership on progress in contract negotiations. He said union policy committee “would initiate a new course of action” if no settlement was reached soon.
Work at Goodyear has continued on a day to day basis since April 20 when the Firestone Tire & Rubber Co., Uniroyal Inc., and the B. F. Goodrich Co. were struck. General Tire & Rubber was struck June 21.
A strike against Goodyear would idle some 21,000 men at 11 plants in addition to the 54,000 men already on strike across the nation.
7-12-67
AKRON, Ohio (UPI) — The United Rubber Workers (URW) will strike the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. Thursday midnight if no contract agreement is reached, a union spokesman said Tuesday.
The URW already is on strike against four other major rubber companies. Three of them have been closed for the past 82 days.
Kenneth Oldham, a member of the union’s Goodyear policy committee of the URW, said about 22,000 union members will walk off their jobs at 11 Goodyear factories from coast to coast if a satisfactory agreement is not reached by Thursday night.
About 51,000 workers have been on strike against Firestone, Goodrich and Uniroyal of Naugatuck, Conn., since April 20, when contracts expired.
Another 3,000 URW members struck two General Tire plants June 15.
The strike is the longest in industry history.
With Goodyear also struck, about 75 per cent of industry capacity will be idled, and the flow of tires and other materials to the defense industry will be sharply cut.
Shortage of defense products, according to some observers, may be sufficient to allow the federal government to invoke the Taft-Hartley Act, and force the rubber workers back to work for an 80-day “cooling-off period.”
7/12/67 [handwritten date in top right corner]
The 13-week-old rubber-industry strike is continuing, despite rumors that a settlement is imminent.
No new developments have been reported in negotiations between the two strikebound tire companies, Uniroyal and Goodyear, and the United Rubbers Workers (URW).
Uniroyal has plants at Beacon Falls and Naugatuck.
Agreements have been reached within the past eight days with Firestone, Goodrich and General Tire & Rubber Co. The strike, longest in rubber-industry history, has idled up to 76,000 workers across the nation.
Peter Bommarito, URW president, went yesterday to Cincinnati, where the talks are being conducted, to participate in the negotiations, with Goodyear and Uniroyal. Talks were scheduled to resume today.
What issue or issues prevented a settlement by the end of the week could not be learned.
Eleven URW locals in nine states began preparations for voting next week on a new three-year contract with the Firestone Tire & Rubber Co.
URW and company negotiators reached tentative agreement on a new pact Thursday night that calls for hourly increases of 43 cents over the period.
The Firestone agreement closely parallels settlements reached earlier with B. F. Goodrich and General Tire & Rubber Co.
All 1000 Firestone production workers will receive immediate 15-cents-an-hour raises, followed by another 15-cent raise next year and 13 cents the third year.
A Union Goal Met
Tire workers averaged $3.68 an hour under the old contract while non-tire workers averaged $.68. The 43-cent raise applies to both tire workers and non-tire workers, which was a major union goal.
A union spokesman said the contract also contains a “big step” toward a guaranteed annual wage in the form of an unemployment supplemental benefit plan giving laid-off workers 80 per cent of their regular pay.
Union and company officials said work would resume at the Firestone plants immediately after the contract was ratified.
Many Footwear employes are
entitled to four weeks and in
some instances five weeks of
vacation. These workers are
permitted to take the extra
weeks at various intervals
through the year so as not to
conflict with the annual vaca-
tion shutdown.
Employes of the Chemical and
Synthetic Divisions now on
strike are allowed to stagger
their vacations. Accordingly,
the plant under normal condi-
tions do not close for any allot-
ted vacation-time as is the case
at Footwear.
Meanwhile, the negotiations
Rubber Workers, AFL-CIO and
Uniroyal have developed into a
cliff-hanging affair.
Reportedly, this past Friday,
the two teams were close to a
settlement on a new master
contract. However a hitch over
some clauses reportedly caused
a new disagreement.
The decision of Firestone to
settle this past Thursday was
the signal for considerable op-
timism here. It was expected
that Uniroyal would follow not
only Firestone, but also Gen-
eral and Goodrich, the other
companies that came to an
earlier agreement with URW.
A reliable report has indicat-
ed that some problems with
Article 9 are holding up the
agreement on the new contract.
The article refers to working
conditions, notably speed-up
of production operations.
URW workers affiliated with
Uniroyal including those of the
three divisions here, Footwear,
Chemical and Synthetic have
the dubious honor of participat-
ing in the longest strike in the
history of the rubber industry.
The strike against Uniroyal
s now in its 94th day. Back on
April 21, union workers of Uni-
oyal, Firestone and Goodrich
egan the marathon walkout.
Since Goodrich and Firestone
have now settled, Uniroyal is
he only one of the three left
utside the fold.
7-24-67 [handwritten]
No break has yet been reported in the 94-day United Rubber Workers-UniRoyal strike. According to sources an all-day session was held yesterday in Cincinnati with small committees meeting through the night.
URW International President Peter Bommarito moved into talks Friday between the union and the two remaining rubber companies, UniRoyal and Goodyear.
Hope ran high Friday in the borough that a settlement would be reached sometime during the day. However, another weekend has past and the mood has returned to the passive waiting of previous weeks.
Vacation pay checks are scheduled to be distributed tomorrow and Wednesday to employes of the Footwear Plant. Many workers have planned vacations for the next two weeks, settlement or not. Other employes have been waiting for these checks to give their finances a boost.
Chemical and Synthetic plant workers have been scheduling their vacations at various times during the strike. These plants do not have a general shutdown as does the footwear plant.
AKRON, Ohio (UPI)—United Rubber Worker 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.
The process of ratification continued at Firestone Tire & Rubber Co., and General Tire & Rubber Co. during the weekend. Negotiations with Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. and UniRoyal Inc., 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 here 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 around the country were expected today at URW international headquarters here. A majority of locals must ratify the contract before it is officially accepted.
General’s two tire factories, here 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 9 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 taking place in Cincinnati.
Conform To Pattern
The settlements, when they are achieved, 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.
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Dedicated To Community Public Service
[Handwritten note: 7-25-67]
STRIKING FOOTWEAR PLANT employes who have been without a pay for 13 weeks are shown collecting their vacation pays at the Water St. gate this morning. The UniRoyal Company is asking employes if they want to work during the scheduled shut-down, if the strike is settled, when they call for their checks. —(News photo by Baker)
Continued From Page 1
AKRON, Ohio (UPI) —Labor peace returned to the rubber capital of the world today. The four largest rubber companies based here have signed contracts with the United Rubber Workers (URW).
The largest tire producer in the world, Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., reached agreement Monday on a new three year contract. The settlement closely parallels the three others reached in the last 10 days of the strike by General Tire & Rubber Co., Firestone Tire & Rubber, and the B. F. Goodrich Co.
Only UniRoyal Inc., a New York based firm, remained without a contract among the “big five” rubber producers. Talks continued in Cincinnati, as the strike went into its 95th day there.
Recalling Workers
The 5,400 members of the URW Local 7, at the Firestone tire plant here, ratified the new contract by a 3-1 margin Monday night. The plant began calling workers back for the overnight shift, and full production was expected to start this morning.
Ratification votes on the Goodyear agreement were scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday. The contract covers some 21,000 employes in 11 factories in 10 states.
Goodyear has five tire factories in Akron, Gadsden, Ala., Los Angeles; Jackson, Mich.; and Topeka, Kans.; and six plants making other products, in Windsor, Vt.; New Bedford, Mass.; North Chicago, Ill.; Lincoln, Neb.; St. Marys, Ohio, and Muncie, Ind.
The 8,400 members of Local 2 will vote here at 10:30 a.m. Thursday. The president of the local, John Nardella, claimed the agreement gave Goodyear workers better benefits that the other three. The improvements
Back On Job
About 90 per cent of Goodrich workers were back on the job at the factory here, and General employes had been back on the job for more than a week.
The four agreements all provide for 43 cent increases for all production workers over the next three years, with an additional 10 cents to skilled workers. They all increase supplementary unemployment benefits from 65 per cent of normal pay to 80 per cent.
The four agreements break rubber industry precedents in wrapping up wages, working conditions, pensions and benefits in one three-year agreement. The Goodyear, Firestone and Goodrich settlements eliminate a wage increase differential between tire and non-tire workers.
In the old contracts, tire workers averaged $3.68 hourly and non tire workers $2.68. General employ no non-tire workers.
Continued From Page 1
7-26-62 [handwritten]
would go on a two or three-week vacation said their spouses worked elsewhere and that they had no, few or grown-up children.”
Another question asked the employees was: “Will you sign up to work during vacation if the strike ends?”
Most employees are as yet undecided, preferring to wait to see the turn of events concerning settlement of the strike.
One gentleman quipped, “Are you kidding?” This left us wondering whether he would or he wouldn’t.
A lady complained, “Yes I will. I’m not going on vacation. I’m sick of it.”
Another contradicted this saying, “No. This is my vacation and I’m going to enjoy it.”
From all indications, it looks like the annual mass exodus from the borough will not occur this summer. Perhaps sewing circles and neighborhood gatherings will come into vogue again before the end of the strike.
The 98 days of the strike by the United Rubber Workers Locals 45, 308 and 218 against the Naugatuck Uniroyal plant were marked by rioting, arrests and court injunctions, as well as lengthy negotiations during much of the period.
Accord was reached last night to end the strike.
The union is set to ratify the agreement Saturday.
The strike was called on April 21 and affected 5,500 workers at the footwear, synthetics and chemical divisions of Uniroyal in Naugatuck and Beacon Falls.
The strike was third in eight years at the Naugatuck plant. In 1959 the walkout stopped production for three weeks, and in 1965 a strike lasted three days. The ’67 strike was the longest in rubber – industry history.
Nationally, the strike involved more than 50,000 persons and was the most widespread since 1959.
Early in May, 80 pickets were arrested for demonstrations against non – bargaining personnel attempting to enter the plant.
Uniroyal won an injunction that prevented the pickets from interfering with personnel or stopping trucks entering or leaving the gates at the three local plants.
About six weeks later, the union won an injunction restraining supervisory and other non-union employes from producing sample shoes during the strike.
All three locals at Naugatuck were involved in the strike. Local 45 represents 4,500 workers in Uniroyal’s footwear division; Local 218 represents 725 workers in the chemical plant, and Local 308 represents 240 workers in the synthetic plant.
Uniroyal was the last of the “Big Five” companies in the rubber industry to reach agreement with the rubber workers.
By RICHARD S. EDINGER
Any 100-day labor strike will cause economic hardship to union members, their families and local merchants, especially in communities the size of Seymour and Beacon Falls.
On Saturday, the union members at Uniroyal, Inc. will vote on ratification of contract agreement made last night in Cincinnati.
The strike will be 100 days old and merchants agree the work stoppage has had some effect on business.
Many families in Beacon Falls and Seymour derive their income from the huge rubber facility four miles north of the center of Beacon Falls in Naugatuck.
There is also a Uniroyal warehouse in Beacon Falls, but few are employed there.
Some relief—temporary as it might be—is being received by employes this week in the form of vacation paychecks.
Some of these checks equal as much as five weeks pay. The total vacation pay distributed is $2-million.
82nd Year, Number 175 | Dedicated To Community Public Service
The day that Naugatuck — and the whole Naugatuck Valley for that matter — has been waiting for has arrived.
The United Rubber Workers strike against UniRoyal has been settled, and within a few days the wheels should be turning once again almost as though they never had stopped.
Yet, unfortunately, there are scars left. It will be a long time before some people stop hurting. It is always so in every prolonged strike.
It is for that reason that we have never been able to condone strike action except as an utter last resort in a situation where injustice has made itself readily apparent. And this particular combination of circumstances is seldom to be found in these modern industrial times.
But never mind all of that now. Things are in the process of returning to something called “normal,” and for this the whole community can be happy.
It is perhaps enough at this point to recall that with the exception of some relatively minor incidents in the first few days of the strike, both labor and management showed commendable judgment in their corporate and individual behavior. We have no deep, unhealing scars to fester and poison.
Now it is important that every man and woman get back into the swing of things; that differences be forgotten and that every effort be made to profit by the unfortunate strike experience.
We have had a strike. Now it’s over, let’s forget about it and work together once again. That’s the way bigger and better communities are built.
Twenty-five per cent of the membership of Local 308, Synthetic Division, turned out last night to reject 32 to 26, the master contract recently agreed upon by the United Rubber Workers and UniRoyal, Inc.
Of the three Naugatuck locals, 308 was the only one to fail to ratify the contract. Local 45 approved it Saturday night, followed by Local 218 on Sunday.
Local President Edward Alves said that the reason for the rejection was that the contract did not offer time-and-a-half for Saturdays and a night shift bonus. He explained that presently, workers get time-and-a-half after 40 hours. He said that the membership was satisfied with all other aspects of the contract.
Union sources said that in order for the new contract to become effective it must be ratified by a majority of the UniRoyal URW membership and the majority of the company’s 19 locals.
The significance of Local 308’s failure to ratify the contract, continued Alves, is contingent only on the votes cast by the other locals. Synthetic Plant workers will continue to report to work.
According to the local president, the master contract will go into effect when the secondary contract is signed if the majority of UniRoyal locals vote for ratification.
Although the vote cast by the local will not hold up talks on the supplemental contract, Alves said that a date has not been set for the talks. A membership meeting, tentatively set for August 15, must be held first.
ONE OF EIGHT Local 218 members arrested in Naugatuck at the gate of the Uniroyal Chemical Plant this morning is led away by police to be booked on charges of breach of peace. Local Pres. Joseph Rzeszutek was one of those charged.—King Photo.
LONG LINE of non-union employes at the Chemical Plant of Uniroyal in Naugatuck files down hill toward the plant gate in the rain this morning to square off against picketing members of Local 218. Eight pickets were arrested and, after Police Capt. Joseph Summa read the riot act in the state statutes, the pickets allowed the workers to enter the plant. —King Photo