One of the uncomfortable aspects of the 1970 strike was having to cross the picket lines every day. The union had placed some of their workers at the parking lot entrances, and the local police had a presence there to keep things orderly. For the most part there was no violence, like you might see in the big cities. The pickets were people we all knew, some were close friends. Of course, as the strike dragged on, tensions did increase. Especially when the trucks came to ship the machines we non-union workers had built. There were harassment type chases involving some of the union people, as the trucks left the factory.  I do remember a story about shots being fired down on I91. But as far as I know, nobody came to any real bodily harm

Because the strike dragged on much longer than anyone thought it would, a lot of the out-of-work union people found jobs elsewhere. So the manning of the picket lines was done by a few faithful. They had placed a 55 gallon drum at the Plant #1 office parking lot entrance, and kept a fire going in it for the chilly mornings. Machine orders were dropping off as word of the strike got out. The contract negotiations were stalled thru the summer. It was not until late fall when an agreement was reached, and the union signed a new pact. I don’t remember the exact details, but I believe the long strike did not benefit the union workers at all. And it took the company a long time to recover. The office workers who stuck thru it all were faced with layoffs; many union workers were not called back for some time; the summer of 1970 did not reward any of us who were involved with this event.

My second child was born toward the end of the strike, and my wife had to come pick me up one November Saturday to go to the hospital. I remember it was during football season, and I watched a game while she was in the delivery room. Back then fathers were not allowed to participate as they are now.

As mentioned earlier, some of the office personnel who worked thru the strike lost their jobs when the strike ended. It was inevitable, as there was not that much engineering work to do. But our parent company, Waterbury-Farrel, was developing a new hot former, and needed engineering help. So three of us were sent to work in their plant in Cheshire, Connecticut. This lasted thru the winter of 1970-1971, for about four months. We would leave town (in a company car) on Monday morning, and return on Friday afternoon. We were put up in a motel and given $60 each to cover expenses. We did not have to make out an expense report, so if we wanted to eat cheap, we could pocket the rest. But living on $60 was not difficult, most of the time we would come home with extra money. And we ate well, I remember in particular a small chef-owned steak house where the service was first-rate (I think the name was The Sleeping Giant). We would usually eat one really good dinner a week, and spend the rest of the week on pizza or pasta. Our co-workers at Waterbury-Farrel gave us inside information on where to eat.