
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, July 18, 1990                   TAG: 9007180577
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-2   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: GEORGE KEGLEY BUSINESS EDITOR
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

CHAMBER STATEMENT CRITICIZED

A state labor official today charged the Virginia Chamber of Commerce violated federal discrimination laws when it urged members to ask job applicants if they support a union-free work environment.

Daniel LeBlanc, secretary-treasurer of the Virginia State AFL-CIO, told a Roanoke news conference the chamber statement violates Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act that forbids "discrimination against a free America."

LeBlanc said the chamber and other organizations are hailing the new freedom and democracy in Eastern Europe but the chamber is not practicing democracy in this country.

LeBlanc said his labor organization "challenges the General Assembly to repudiate the Chamber of Commerce in its bias against working men and women."

The controversial statement came from an article written by Roanoke labor lawyer Clinton Morse.

Responding to LeBlanc, Morse said his article suggested that employers hire the best candidates. Refusal to hire a person because of union activity violates the law, he said, but "it is not a violation to refuse to hire because of legitimate business reasons." He was referring to such reasons in the article, he said.

Working men and women should not be told they cannot apply for a job under questioning about their opinions on labor unions, LeBlanc said.

The AFL-CIO held the second of four sessions of its "Journey for Democracy" program to get more labor people to run for public office.

Union members "have been coaching football teams and serving as church deacons and it's time to run for office," LeBlanc said.

As the No. 2 man in the federation of 450 union locals with 200,000 members, LeBlanc is running his own race - for president of the state AFL-CIO to succeed David Laws, who is retiring. The election will be at the state convention in Norfolk in August.

James Leaman, executive vice president of Communications Workers of America Local 2250 in Roanoke, is a candidate to follow LeBlanc as secretary-treasurer.

Leaman listed a 10-part "Workers Bill of Rights," stating issues that he said have been eroded. Among them are rights to a job, to a democratic union and a living wage.

by CNB