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

DATE: FRIDAY, October 14, 1994                   TAG: 9410140103
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: A-13   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NEW YORK                                 LENGTH: Medium

LEVI STRAUSS-UNION ACCORD CALLED INDUSTRY MILESTONE

As part of the agreement, Levi Strauss, one of the world's leading clothing makers, will drop any resistance to the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union's efforts to enlist thousands of new members.

``An adversarial relationship won't work in a rapidly changing marketplace that demands flexibility and innovation,'' said Bob Rockey, president of Levi Strauss North America.

The agreement eventually would set up steering committees of company and union officials in each Levi's plant. Several labor experts hailed such cooperation as a trend in American industry.

``It's in a union's best interest to see companies survive and be profitable,'' said Richard Belous, chief economist for the National Planning Association, a Washington think tank sponsored by both business and labor. ``There's a growing number of unions willing to do that, as long as management is willing to cooperate.''

``I think it's the direction of the future,'' said Jay Mazur, president of the International Ladies Garment Workers Union in New York. ``In terms of what's happening in the world today, it's absolutely necessary for workers to participate in the way companies are run. ... We're competing with (companies offering) wages as low as 12 and 15 cents an hour.''

As part of the agreement, discussed for 18 months, Amalgamated has free rein to add as many union members as it can. The union now represents about 6,000 of Levi Strauss' 16,000 workers at 30 North American plants.

But the union may get less than it expects from the arrangement, cautioned Jane Slaughter, a staff writer for the monthly magazine Labor Notes, published by a non-profit agency in Detroit.

``There's always talk of the mutual gains, but our experience is these partnerships usually turn out to be pretty one-sided, and the union turns out to be the junior partner,'' she said.

San Francisco-based Levi Strauss had a history of opposing union organization before negotiations began for the partnership, Amalgamated spokeswoman Jo-Ann Mort said. But she said the union isn't selling out its members just to add more.

``We think this kind of agreement will give our workers more power, more voice to make strategic day-to-day decisions to improve their workplace,'' Mort said.

The agreement may help Levi Strauss smooth problems that arose when it introduced a new production system two years ago. To speed production, the company reorganized workers at many plants into teams to produce an entire garment, instead making it in assembly-line fashion.

Workers at one of those plants, in Harlingen, Texas, welcomed news of the partnership.

``It's a great opportunity to protect our jobs,'' said Alma Garcia, vice president of the Amalgamated local at the Harlingen factory. ``It's also an effective way to deal with changes, to make decisions in the workplace.''