ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times

DATE: Thursday, January 9, 1997              TAG: 9701100018
SECTION: BUSINESS                 PAGE: B-5  EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: JEFF STURGEON STAFF WRITER 

UNION PULLS RIGHT BEFORE VOTE IS HELD

FEW WORKERS at Blue Ridge Stone Corp. supported the union's continuing presence.

After representing employees of Blue Ridge Stone Corp. for 45 years, the Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers International Union pulled out this week, one day before employees were to vote on the possibility of breaking their union ties.

Only a minority of the 25 employees of the limestone mining company in Blue Ridge supported the union, while a majority wanted to "give the company a chance" to operate without one, employee Scott Wilson said Wednesday.

Workers had been scheduled to vote today on whether to drop the union. But the vote became unnecessary after the union on Tuesday withdrew from its role as the employees' representative by sending a notice to the National Labor Relations Board.

The union's action cancelled a contract on wages, benefits and working conditions that had been good through Jan.31. Based in Washington, D.C., the Oil Workers union had represented Blue Ridge Stone employees since 1951, or thereabouts. NLRB documents don't give the exact date, and union officials could not be reached.

Wilson, 39, began the anti-union campaign after only a year on the job. He said he did it because Blue Ridge's managers "struck me as being people who really cared" and because union officials had refused to talk to him about their goals at the company. Based on those feelings, he never joined the Oil Workers local for the plant, No. 3-515. In the end, 13 employees joined him in demanding a decertification election be scheduled.

The company's lawyer, Jim Meath, said recent events suggest company managers are doing a good job in the eyes of employees.

"People feel good about the company. There's a definite feeling there's no need to be represented by a third party," Meath said. "They don't really need to pay [union] dues."

At a worker gathering, Abney Boxley III, company president, announced the union pullout and received applause after he thanked workers for their trust, Wilson said.

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