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

DATE: THURSDAY, March 7, 1991                   TAG: 9103070102
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: A-11   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short

STRIKEBREAKER BILL THREATENED WITH VETO

The Bush administration, again at odds with organized labor's Democratic supporters in Congress, threatened Wednesday to veto legislation to prevent companies from giving permanent jobs to strikebreakers.

Labor Secretary Lynn Martin told a House panel that the measure would give too much power to unions, promote labor unrest and hurt the economy. Her statement was the first defining the administration position..

The AFL-CIO and many congressional Democrats consider the measure critical to ensuring that American workers maintain their decades-old legal right to strike.

The 14.2-million-member AFL-CIO, which has long complained that the White House overlooks workers' needs, vowed to make the legislation a top priority in Congress this year.

"If the bill were presented to the president, his senior advisers would recommend a veto," Martin told the House Education and Labor subcommittee on labor-management relations.

AFL-CIO President Lane Kirkland said the measure was necessary to protect America's unionized workers. And Rep. William Ford, D-Mich., chairman of the Education and Labor Committee, said it was needed to keep employers from "annihilating" unions.

by CNB