Kimble Glass Company, A Subsidiary of Owens-Illinois Glass Company - Muncie, Indiana Plant

Glass Union

Strike Hits

Plant Here

The Kimble Glass Company here was idled, effective midnight Friday, by a strike called by the American Flint Glass Workers Union (AFL). The shutdown was ordered after industry-wide negotiations at Toledo failed to bring a settlement before the midnight deadline. Two locals at the Kimble plant, an Owens-Illinois subsidiary, are members of the AFGWU, and include more than 400 operators and miscellaneous glass workers.

Operations continued, however, at the Ball Brothers Company here, and at several other Eastern Indiana glass plants in the container industry, in which no deadline notice was issued. AFGWU workers in the latter plants are mostly moldmakers, whose contract is being negotiated separately at the Toledo parley. No word has yet been received by those locals here regarding a shutdown, with negotiations resuming Saturday morning.

AT KIMBLE, workers began the shutdown of furnaces at midnight with token picket lines being set up Saturday morning.

A national executive committee of the union is continuing negotiations with a national association of glass manufacturers group.

Locals 517 and 32 of AFGWU are composed of Kimble workers; about 50 moldmakers at the Ball Brothers Company are members of AFGWU Local 50.

LOCALS from the Anchor Hocking at Winchester, Armstrong Cork Company at Dunkirk, and Overmyer Mold Company at Winchester had received no word on a shutdown Saturday morning. These, like Ball Brothers, are in the container industry where no deadline was set on the negotiations.

The Kimble Company manufactures glass insulators and glass building blocks.

The strike for the Kimble Company was viewed as a surprise, since in the past there was never a work stoppage during contract negotiations, and final settlement was usually retroactive to the contract expiration date. The contract between the union and the association of manufacturers expired Sept. 1. Among other plants affected was the Federal Glass Company at Columbus, O., where 1,400 persons were idled.

A Ball Brothers company spokesman emphasized that all work schedules are continuing on a normal basis, and employees at that plant will continue to report on regular work schedules. There has been no breakdown between the Flint Glass Workers and the container branch of the glass industry, he said. Talks between the union and the container branch officials were to be resumed at 2:30 p.m. Saturday.