BY KEVIN GALVIN, Associated Press

Friday, March 28, 1997

The Laborers' International Union of North America is engaged in a labor battle with some of the best in the business: its own organizers.

The union's organizing staff members went on strike last week, charging that the union illegally attempted to thwart their efforts to form a collective bargaining unit.

The standoff created an embarrassing situation for the 350,000-member union, whose president, Arthur Coia, heads the AFL-CIO's organizing committee.

The strikers have returned to work, but the union's organizing chief has resigned, its much-praised recruitment program is jeopardized and a complaint was forwarded to the National Labor Relations Board.

"We have faith in our organizing department," said union spokesman David Roscow. "We have been a model for others in the past, and we look to continue this and continue organizing as we have."

The labor movement, guided by the new leadership of the AFL CIO, is renewing its commitment to recruiting members. The union's organizing efforts were seen as a model for unions in the building and construction trades.

Wanting clarification of their benefits and responsibilities, two dozen of the union's organizers demanded to be recognized as a collective bargaining unit on Feb. 27.

The union's general counsel said it was prepared to grant voluntary recognition to full-time organizers, but not to those contracted for specific projects, whom the union considers temporary workers.

In addition, the union said it would promote eight workers from temporary to full-time status so they could join the unit.

But that left out three project staffers, so the organizers rejected the offer, taking the unusual step of striking after an employer's offer of voluntary recognition.

Announcing their strike in a March 13 statement, the organizers called the exclusion of the three project staffers from the bargaining unit "a clear attempt to weaken and punish our efforts at collective action."

Regarding the resignation of Duane Stillwell, the union's chief organizer, Roscow would say only that he had quit for personal reasons.

But in a letter to his superiors, Stillwell said he hoped his March 18 resignation "would force an unbelieving, naive group of organizers to come to their senses. I was bitterly disappointed."

"I only wanted to bring victory and recognition to LIUNA; the episodes of the last few weeks, I know, have simply brought despair," Stillwell wrote.

Roscow said the union's headquarters believed the disgruntled organizers had "given up their efforts to organize" and withdrawn their NLRB complaint, while others familiar with the dispute said the organizers were awaiting an NLRB decision.

These are tough times at the union. It just followed a buyout offer by laying off a handful of employees. Much of its revenue is used to finance a sweeping internal investigation of corruption.

That investigation stems from a consent decree the union signed with the Justice Department, which had drafted a criminal complaint alleging that union officials were controlled by organized crime.

All content © 1997 AKRON BEACON JOURNAL