Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, November 5, 1994 TAG: 9411070031
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: STEPHEN FOSTER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: FAIRLAWN LENGTH: Medium
When the Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers Union Local 3-495 ratified a new four-year contract last month, its members agreed to a "security clause" that requires all wage earners to pay the union the equivalent of monthly dues - $27.22 per month - for its part in negotiating the contract.
The U.S. Army-owned arsenal is seen as a "federal enclave," and therefore is governed by federal, not state, labor laws. But until last year the union had not recognized its opportunity to require all wage-earners to pay it for negotiating a contract, said Steve Gentry, an international representative of the union.
Hercules agreed to the clause and says "failure to pay these fees will be grounds for termination of employment," said Nicole Kinser, public affairs officer for the arsenal. Workers have until Monday to agree to pay the fees.
The clause could affect more than 320 workers. The 42-year-old union boasts 925 members, but negotiates for a 1,247-member bargaining unit. Some nonunion members have questioned the clause's legality. Gentry said he knew of at least one nonunion member who had contacted the state attorney general's office.
Hercules is assuming that the clause will be challenged.
"They know that it will be tested," Kinser said.
But Gentry is confident the clause is on strong legal grounds, and Hercules and the union will stand together on the issue," he said.
A spokesman for the National Labor Relations Board in Washington said the arsenal contract's union security clause was negotiated because the union and Hercules believed the arsenal qualified as a federal enclave, placing it under the jurisdiction of the National Labor Relations Act and not the state right-to-work law.
The labor board spokesman said the usual course for someone challenging a federal-enclave designation would be for an employee to file a complaint with the NLRB's regional office in Winston-Salem.
The labor-board spokesman said the typical provision in union-security clauses allows the union to ask the employer to terminate anyone who refuses to pay the union fees. "That's legal - if it is a federal enclave," the spokesman said.
For union members, Gentry said, the security clause was a major reason for agreeing to accept the four year contract, which included a 3 percent pay raise next year, an $850 lump sum payment in 1996 and 2.5 percent raises each of the next two years.
"We've got people who we believe have taken advantage of us for years," Gentry said of nonunion wage earners. "They're receiving the benefits of the contract and have paid no financial assistance to the union."
Gentry recognized the union's opportunity after coming here last year from Idaho, where he had been a union president at an Idaho chemical plant. "This has been available to the union for a long time," he said. While he stressed that the union as a whole voted for the clause, "most of this is because I'm not from here."
Workers cannot be forced to join the union. But Gentry characterized the fees as payment for "purposes of servicing the contract [and] representation rights."
On whether the contract will be challenged, he said, "I don't really know. But if it, it is.
"We're going to be reasonable," Gentry said. Still, "It's time for people to pick up what their responsibilities are."
Staff writer Ray Reed contributed information to this story.
by CNB