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

DATE: SATURDAY, June 25, 1994                   TAG: 9406290080
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: A-6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By LON WAGNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

UNION REPS WANT STATUS TO FIGHT CUTS

Union representatives helping organize workers at Martinsville fleecewear manufacturer Tultex Corp. predicted that by early next week they would have signatures from more than half of that operation's workers.

The Amalgamated Clothing & Textile Workers Union said Friday it wants more than 50 percent of the workers to sign union cards, even though only 30 percent is required to force an election, to show the company the demand for representation.

The union also said it welcomed Thursday's ``declaration by Tultex President Chuck Davies that the company would recognize a union at the Martinsville facility without an election if the majority of workers signed union cards.''

Davies said his previous day's statement had been twisted.

``What we said was we may consider accepting union representation of our employees rather than going through the distracting, divisive campaign,'' Davies said. ``And that means we may not.''

Union spokeswoman Patricia Westwater said the union had collected close to 1,100 cards from Tultex workers in five days. Tultex employs more than 2,000 people at its plant and distribution center in the Martinsville area. The company's Roanoke operations were not included.

Westwater and union organizers from the union's Southern Region have set up headquarters in a Martinsville hotel for the campaign. She said the union wants to be certain it has support this time, after narrowly losing elections in 1989 and 1990.

Westwater said Tultex employees are disgruntled because the company, over the past 18 months, has cut pay and benefits, including: cuts in shift premiums and piece rates, cuts in 12-hour bonuses and profit-sharing. Some workers have seen their yearly pay reduced by as much as $5,700 because of changes in the way the company pays workers, she said.

``The company maintains that going through a union campaign here would be devastating to the community,'' Westwater said. ``These workers feel the devastation to the community has already occurred by having their wages reduced by one-third.''

Davies acknowledged that the company had adjusted its wages, but said Tultex's pay scale is still competitive with the highest in the industry.

``We made painful choices to move these wages and benefits back to the level of our best paying competition to save jobs in the community,'' he said. ``The fact that they are not as good as they once were is true.''

by CNB