Cronin and Waitresses May Settle Out of Court

James D. Cronin, owner of Cronin's Restaurant, will meet today with eight waitresses, formerly employed by him, who have been picketing his restaurant for 95 days.

This meeting will be the first one since Cronin's court plea 39 days ago for an injunction to stop picketing. The plea was denied.

The Massachusetts Labor Relations Commission arranged the meeting in an attempt to resolve the differences between Cronin and the waitresses without resorting to a formal court hearing.

The waitresses have filed because they walked out on a strike. They have asked the commission to reinstate them at Cronin's with full back pay.

Firing employees for going on strike is an illegal labor practice.

"Derogatory Statements"

Cronin said during the court hearing in March that the waitresses were fired for overcharging customers or "making derogatory statements to the customers about our food, the restaurant and myself."

Stephen Domesick, attorney for the waitresses, said last week that he does not know whether Cronin will be ready to negotiate at today's meeting.

He said that the picketing of the restaurant has continued since the beginning of the 95 day strike and that Cronin testified in court that the picketing was costing him about $11,000 per month in lost business.

Patricia Welch, one of the striking waitresses, said last week that community participation in the picketing of Cronin's had increased since the conclusion of the injunction hearing. "We now have people signed up to picket Cronin's for the next six months," she said, and added that the financial contributions from the community have allowed the waitresses to continue the strike.

Cronin said Friday that the waitresses' demands exceeded the allowable increase under the Phase-Two guidelines of the Economic Stabilization Act.

He added that even if the wage increase asked by the waitresses could be legally granted he probably would not meet their demands because price controls prevented him from raising prices enough to cover the increased cost. The waitresses' union--the Harvard Square Waitress Organizing Committee--is attempting to organize all the waitresses in Harvard Square.