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

DATE: FRIDAY, August 26, 1994                   TAG: 9408270038
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: A5   EDITION: METRO  
SOURCE: MAG POFF STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

APCO CLERICAL WORKERS VOTE UNION

A group of 21 marketing and customer service workers at Appalachian Power Co. voted Thursday in favor of representation by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.

They were the first group of the utility's clerical workers to vote for representation by the union, said Merle Wykle, spokesman for the IBEW's Local 978.

The vote was 12-9 to join the union in an election held by the National Labor Relations Board, he said.

The local represents Apco employees in Virginia, West Virginia and Kentucky. Some other clerical groups in the American Electric Power Co. system, Apco's Columbus, Ohio, parent, are represented by a union.

The Roanoke employees work in customer service and marketing at the Apco headquarters building downtown.

The union must select a negotiating committee and set dates for meetings with Apco officials. Negotiations for a contract should begin soon, Wykle said..

Issues facing employees in the election were "job security, fair and equal treatment, respect and dignity and to have a voice in their job," he said.

"We feel this is a very important step in the right direction, since this is the first clerical group to elect to join the union," Wykle said. "Other departments at Apco have been watching this campaign very closely and they expressed interest in joining the union."

It is the third election the union has won at the electric utility in recent months. The Pulaski division of Apco voted in June for union representation, as did the Pulaski storage attendants in a separate election held in July.

Employees in the Abingdon division have asked for a new vote after last year's one-vote loss, and the union has received inquiries from workers in the Bluefield division, Wykle said. The Abingdon and Bluefield divisions are the only areas at Apco that are not represented by the IBEW.

"The employees have indicated by the vote that they wish to be represented by the union," said Apco spokeswoman Victoria Ratcliff. "We will, of course, work with the union as we do in other areas where we have union representation."

by CNB