
DATE: Monday, May 19, 1997                  TAG: 9705190053

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY WARREN FISKE, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: RICHMOND                          LENGTH:  147 lines

EARLEY'S UNION VIEWS BECOME ISSUE A RIGHT-TO-WORK GROUP AND AN OPPONENT ARE QUESTIONING HIS LABOR SENTIMENTS AND VOTING RECORD IN THE GOP RACE FOR ATTORNEY GENERAL.

Attorney general hopeful Mark L. Earley acknowledges he once sponsored legislation that would have eroded Virginia's laws barring compulsory union membership, but he says it was all an innocent mistake.

The National Right to Work Committee agrees that Earley made a big mistake but is not sure it was unintentional.

Mark Mix, vice president of the influential anti-union group, said that Earley's state Senate record ``shows a pattern'' of pro-labor sentiment. The committee, which does not make political endorsements, will offer that assessment to its 65,000 Virginia members in an upcoming report on the four Republican attorney general candidates.

And one of Earley's opponents - state Sen. Kenneth Stolle of Virginia Beach - is accusing the Chesapeake state senator of trying to cover up his true feelings on right-to-work.

``I don't think right-to-work issues are important to Mark Earley,'' Stolle said in an interview last week. ``I think the record clearly shows Mark Earley would prefer this to be a forced labor-union state.''

The charges set up a crucial talking point for voters who will go to the polls June 10 to choose a Republican candidate. The attorney general interprets and enforces Virginia's right-to-work law. Perhaps no other policy strikes closer to the libertarian core of Virginia politics than this 50-year-old law. Along with motherhood and apple pie, it has become a given that all successful candidates - Democrat and Republican - bow at its altar.

The law bans any requirement that workers join a union to hold a job. Virginia is among 21 right-to-work states, and supporters argue that the law spurs economic development and makes an important statement about individual freedom.

Earley, known for a decade as one of the leading social conservatives in the General Assembly, said last week that he finds it ``absurd'' that he is being characterized as a liberal on labor issues.

``I strongly support Virginia's right-to-work law,'' he said. ``I co-patroned legislation (in 1993) to make the law part of our Constitution.''

Stolle ``wants people to believe my whole political career has been about advancing labor unions,'' Earley added. ``That's ridiculous. What my career has been about is being willing to listen and being open to any group or individual that wants to talk.''

At the center of the debate is a bill Earley helped introduce in 1991 that would have allowed employers to demand that their workers be represented by ``an exclusive bargaining agent.'' The legislation would have required workers to reimburse unions for their costs in providing representation and collective bargaining.

Earley says he misunderstood the impact of the legislation when he agreed to co-sponsor it with two of most liberal Democrats in the Senate: Yvonne B. Miller of Norfolk and Joseph V. Gartlan Jr. of Fairfax County.

``All of us in the legislature have signed on to bills that we later discover we can't support,'' Earley said. He noted that Stolle backed the legalization of riverboat gambling in 1993 but later championed anti-gaming interests.

Earley introduced two other bills with Miller and Gartlan in 1991 that would have given state and local public employees the right to collective bargaining. He says he misunderstood those bills, too.

Upon realizing his mistakes, Earley says, he quickly distanced himself from all three bills. They died in the Senate Labor and Commerce Committee. Earley, who did not belong to the panel, never had to vote on the measures.

Earley says the whole incident represents nothing more than a one-time bobble that has never been repeated.

Stolle's campaign has released - by fax and mail to voters - an ever-growing mountain of fliers in recent weeks citing other proof that Earley is ``beholden to union bosses.'' They include charges that Earley:

Accepted more than $14,000 in union contributions during his first two campaigns for Senate in 1987 and 1991. Earley acknowledges the receipt. ``I won't make any apologies for that,'' he said. Earley added that he has not received any union money since then. And he notes that Stolle accepted $500 from a longshoremen's union in 1991.

Received as much as $10,000 a year in legal fees from unions. Earley said his law firm contracts with several unions to provide members with low-cost legal services such as writing wills and handling domestic and credit problems. He said neither he nor his partners represent unions in bargaining matters.

Voted in 1993 to allow state workers automatic paycheck deductions for dues to the Virginia Governmental Employees Association. Earley says it was unfair to deny state government employees the option enjoyed by other Virginia workers for the convenience of a payroll dues deduction.

Voted for a 1996 constitutional amendment that would have given schoolteachers the right to binding arbitration in disciplinary matters. Earley notes that all other public employees have such rights and said it is unfair to exempt teachers.

Earley accuses Stolle of ``incredible hypocrisy'' on labor issues. ``He's the only candidate running for attorney general who belongs to a union,'' he says, referring to his rival's membership in the Fraternal Order of Police.

The national FOP, Earley notes, is opposing a congressional effort to enact a federal right-to-work law. State FOP officials say they disagree with the national organization but cannot control its activities. They also say the state branch technically is not a union because its bylaws forbid any role in collective bargaining.

Earley also cites a variety of positive ratings he's received from pro-business groups such as Virginia FREE and the National Federation of Independent Business.

But Earley, who was endorsed by the state AFL-CIO in his first Senate run in 1987, also says he may be a little more open-minded on unions than many Republicans. Earley's father, who worked 35 years at Norfolk Naval Shipyard, was a union member. So were some of his uncles who worked at the Ford truck plant in Norfolk.

Some of the charges made by Stolle seem to astonish Earley, a former missionary and champion of religious conservatives. For example, several fliers noting that Earley in past campaigns has been endorsed by local teachers unions characterize the Virginia Education Association as ``an organization that encourages the teaching of homosexuality as an accepted lifestyle.''

``I try to reach out to all people,'' Earley said. ``I will not demonize the working families of Virginia. It's unfortunate that one of my opponents will.''

Stolle replies: ``Mark ought to get a backbone. If he's against forced union membership, then he ought to show it by standing up to unions once in a while.''

The National Right to Work Committee's spokesman also offers sharp criticism. The group distributes to its members detailed records of candidates' votes on labor issues. ``Mark's record is one thing, and his positions today are entirely another,'' Mix said. ``I don't know how to reconcile them.

``All of these things, when added up and put on a certain scale, tend to convince you of a certain outcome,'' he said of Earley's record on labor.

Mix said his organization does not have similar concerns about Stolle or the other two Republicans seeking the nomination as attorney general - Jerry Kilgore, a former state secretary of public safety, and Gilbert Davis, a prominent Northern Virginia lawyer.

Kilgore achieved notice in 1989 when, as an assistant U.S. attorney, he prosecuted many striking members of the United Mine Workers union for trying to stop work at a western Virginia mine. Davis has no record of representing unions in his private practice.

Although Kilgore and Davis profess fealty to the right-to-work law, they have been reluctant to enter the debate on Earley.

``I believe you should never interfere in a fight between two of your opponents,'' Kilgore laughed. ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photos]

SEN. MARK EARLEY, CHESAPEAKE

``I try to reach out to all people. I will not demonize the

working families of Virginia. It's unfortunate that one of my

opponents will.''

SEN. KEN STOLLE, VIRGINIA BEACH

``Mark ought to get a backbone. If he's against forced union

membership, then he ought to show it by standing up to unions once

in a while.'' KEYWORDS: ATTORNEY GENERAL RACE