Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, September 12, 1995 TAG: 9509120094
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JEFF STURGEON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
John Elrod will lead the meeting in Lexington, which will coincide with an organizing drive by the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America.
George Stevens, a union field representative, said three or four university employees complained to the union's Waynesboro office early this month that they and co-workers are overworked and being denied promotions.
Based on the complaints, the union asked members of the work force of 130 to 150 employees to return postcards if they want to be represented, Stevens said. The union, which would need support of 30 percent of workers to force an election, did not have a reliable count of the number of cards received as of late Monday, he said.
Elrod planned to make a statement to all affected employees during a closed meeting this morning, said university spokesman Brian Shaw.
"We believe that it's not in the best interests of the university or the workers for the workers to organize," Shaw said. The university had no comment on Stevens' report that workers say they are unhappy, he said.
The university has been striving to streamline how buildings and grounds are maintained since the arrival of its present department chief, Bill Elswick, last summer.
If chosen to represent the workers, Stevens said, the Pittsburgh, Pa.- based union could seek contract terms from university officials that would protect workers' seniority and guard against excessive workloads. University employees would unionize separately from UE Local 124, whose members work at Genicom Corp. in Waynesboro, he said.
by CNB