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

DATE: THURSDAY, February 23, 1995                   TAG: 9502230073
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B-8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: JEFF STURGEON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

TEXTILE WORKERS RALLY FOR SMOKING RIGHTS

Henry County textile workers went public Wednesday with their campaign for the right to smoke at work, hoisting signs, changing slogans and, yes, smoking during a two-hour protest in front of their union hall.

"It's to get the company's attention, to let them know we are expecting some kind of accommodation for smokers," said Jerry Hairston, president of Local 1708 of the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union in Fieldale.

Fieldcrest Cannon, the Eden, N.C.-based producer of towels, linens and other textiles, recently told workers it will ban smoking and use of smokeless tobacco products March 1 at its Fieldale plant. While employees at other companies have welcomed smoking bans, those at Fieldale's biggest employer think differently.

About 40 employees out of the plant's 870 were present when the prosmoking rally began in the union's parking lot on a bluff near the plant. A union official said 60 smoking and nonsmoking employees had put in an appearance by the rally's end.

Nonsmoker Patrina Preston, an eight-year employee, said employee rights are at stake.

"If they take smoking, who's to say what's next?" she said.

The company denied a request by employees for a place to smoke outdoors. "We are trying to change behavior," said O.L. Raines, human resources director for the corporation.

The Fieldale plant will be the first of about 20 owned by Fieldcrest Cannon to ban smoking, Raines said. A new plant in Columbus, Ga., will be the second.

The company traces its decision to fears that the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration would impose no-smoking rules on employers if the company didn't.

The union was notified in November 1993 that it would be consulted before a smoking ban took effect. Negotiations concluded, however, with the union unhappy with Fieldcrest's plans.

Hairston said employees will endure the ban if the company doesn't back down. No strike or job action is planned, he said. But it won't be easy for the roughly 60 percent of the work force that smokes, Hairston said.

Brady Wilford Jones, 59, a 39-year employee, said he plans to quit three years early rather than stop smoking, a lifelong habit. "I ain't going out there and stand no eight hours without some cigarettes," he said.

Employees who continue to smoke at the plant after the ban will be counseled by a plant nurse on their first and second offense. After a third offense, they risk being fired, Raines said.

by CNB