The strike of members of the Social Service Employees Union, Local 11, against the Jewish Community Council of Essex County and a number of agencies affiliated with the Council is entering its third week tomorrow with the Council refusing to negotiate a new contract with the union because of its “Communist leadership.”
Only about 60 of the 145 members of the union are on strike, a Council spokesman said here today. The strike began on December 6 after the Council notified the union that when the present contract expires on December 31, it would negotiate only with a union “without a Communist reputation.” Seven agencies of the Council independently re-affirmed the Council’s stand.
Allan V. Lowenstein, Council president, has charged that the strike has been marked by a campaign of “villification, violence and barassment, including jamming of the agency’s telephones and threats of employees and officials.” Two arrests have been made on charges of violence.
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