Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, August 3, 1994 TAG: 9408030082
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: GREG EDWARDS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Virgie Hobson, speaking for the group Concerned Citizens for Working Freedom, said, ``Our sole purpose is to do everything in our power to keep Martinsville as union-free as possible.'' Hobson is a retired chairwoman of the guidance department with Martinsville city schools.
The Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union has scheduled an organizing election for Aug.17 and 18 involving approximately 2,500 workers at Tultex's Martinsville plants. The union has tried unsuccessfully four times in the past to win representation at Tultex.
The union lost certification elections at Tultex in 1989 and 1990 by about 250 votes.
Michael Zucker, a union spokesman, said the anti-union group is nothing more than a front for Tultex. He said it was organized by a consulting firm that specializes in setting up front groups. The union has seen similar front groups in other communities where it has conducted organizing drives, he said.
Hobson said the anti-union ``community'' group was formed at the request of Tultex and Tultex employees who oppose union representation at the plants.
She said that the group is independent and will be seeking contributions from people in Martinsville to help fight the union drive at Tultex, a major manufacturer of sweat clothing and other active wear.
Although the group has not decided on a plan of action, Hobson indicated its efforts would be aimed at telling the public about the other side of the union issue. Allowing the union into Tultex would hurt Martinsville's ability to attract other industry to the city and to keep the jobs the community already has, she said.
The Martinsville-Henry County Chamber of Commerce handled distribution of the union opponents' news release Tuesday.
Larry Aydlette, executive vice president of the chamber, agreed that a successful union drive at Tultex would hurt the community's economic development efforts. The chamber has policies addressing the issue of unionization, he said.
Aydlette was unable to offer specific examples of union activity's harming a community's efforts to attract new jobs, but said common sense indicated that labor unrest would drive off industrial prospects.
``If a fight is going on in the building, are you going in there?'' he asked.
Competition for new jobs is keen worldwide, Aydlette said. ``If a company has plans to add on or build a new plant, it doesn't have to go into an area where there's turbulence,'' he said.
Zucker, however, said the only thing that having a union at Tultex would hurt would be the community's ability to attract low-wage jobs. The real fear of some in the community is that wages will go up if Tultex workers have a union, he said.
``The motives [of the group] are mighty suspicious at best,'' Zucker said. ``Where were these community people when workers were having their wages and benefits cut to the bone?''
Neither Hobson nor Aydlette could say how many people are involved with the anti-union group.
Aydlette said no membership roll was being kept. He said he does not know what specific course the anti-union organization will take, but that it will have to act soon with the union vote only two weeks off.
Despite the organized effort against the union drive at Tultex, the Martinsville-Henry County area already has a union presence. The Fieldcrest-Cannon towel mill at Fieldale is unionized, as are the DuPont nylon plant, two paper companies and two glass companies in the Martinsville-Henry County area.
by CNB