The union hopes to have tentative bargaining dates established by next week, said Larry Foster, a UAW International representative who helps negotiate contracts for 20 locals, including Local 364.

The picket line has grown in the last few days as union workers have added tents, American flags and more signs along the streets in front of the plant.

The week-old strike has remained orderly, although police were dispatched three times -- twice to stop picketers from blocking driveway entrances to the plant and when someone took down a flag on company property and replaced it with the Chinese flag.

Outsourcing instrument production to China has been a major concern of the workers, who received a letter sent just before the strike from Conn-Selmer, saying the company could save $7 million a year by purchasing instruments from "an Asian manufacturer."

By and large, though, it's relatively calm, more like a vigil than a picket, although passing trucks sometimes honk in support of the picketers and when the workday ends and those still inside the plant go home, union members pick up "On Strike" signs and begin cheering.

Robert White, who's worked at Bach for 18 years, brought his 14-year-old son, Rollie, to the picket line. Rollie was on spring break this past week.

Rollie, an eighth-grader at Middlebury's Heritage Middle School, plays a Selmer tenor saxophone in the school band. He spent Friday playing with a deck of cards and driving a remote-control toy car around the picket site.

Friday was the last pay day for the striking workers, who are now looking for ways to make ends meet, especially when it comes to health care. Benefits, just like wages, were part of the Bach contract that expired at midnight on April 1, Steinway spokeswoman Julie Theriault said in an e-mail.

UAW International is sending a strike committee to Elkhart early next week. The committee will help Bach workers sign up for temporary health care coverage.

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