**Date:** 6-3-67
**Source:** Unknown
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Time is relative to many factors.
All of us have had long days and all of us have had short ones, too. Under certain circumstances, 40 days could be a short time — much too short, say, when spent on a Florida vacation or a trip to Europe.
But under other circumstances, 40 days can be an excruciatingly long time — and such is the case with Naugatuck at the moment.
The strike against UniRoyal has long since passed the stage when it was a temporary inconvenience. Naugatuck is hurting–and hurting bad!
The latest word from Ohio, where all the conversation has been going on presumably in an effort to arrive at some sort of meeting of the minds, is not one about which we can grow enthusiastic or even slightly hopeful.
In short, it’s not good.
For at least three days there has been a recess with no progress whatsoever, and there is no indication that the situation is about to change. It has been said that the talks in Cincinnati to date have been the “weirdest” negotiations in the memory of some venerable veterans of the labor-management wars.
It’s hard to judge here in Naugatuck, several hundred miles away from the scene of the action (?) just what’s going on, despite official reports. It’s difficult if not impossible, to determine who’s right and who’s wrong at this point.
But there seems little question that something is wrong somewhere. Somebody isn’t trying as hard as might be expected.
It seems to us that there has been ample time to think and talk about the problems involved in the UniRoyal strike. What is needed now is action! And plenty of it!
We are not attempting to point the finger at either side in this dispute at the moment. We simply know that this prolonged dispute is creating an atmosphere in Naugatuck which is both unhealthy and potentially dangerous.
The wheels of commerce are slowing down. Bills are going unpaid, debts are increasing and — what’s worse — tempers are getting shorter. The potential for trouble is tremendous.
We would suggest, then, that this is not the time to put off negotiations, but rather the time to step up the tempo.
There is an answer somewhere, if men will but use their minds and resort to logic and reason instead of emotion. Let’s get on with it!