Suspension of U.S. Unions Chiefs Sought : Activities in Presidential Campaign Found Illegal by Law Judge

An administrative law judge recommended Tuesday that the presidents of three federal employee unions be found guilty of violating the Hatch Act because they urged their members to oppose the reelection of President Reagan last year.

Chief Administrative Law Judge Edward J. Reidy said the three had violated the 1939 law, which prohibits federal employees from taking an active part in political campaigns. He said they should be suspended for 60 days from government service. His recommendation now goes to the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board for consideration.

The three union leaders, Kenneth Blaylock of the American Federation of Government Employees, Moe Biller of the American Postal Workers Union and Vincent R. Sombrotto of the National Assn. of Letter Carriers, represent more than 1.2 million federal workers.

Action Decried

The merit systems board’s special counsel instituted the administrative proceeding against the three last February. The union leaders characterized the action as a political attack by the Reagan Administration on organized labor.

Blaylock characterized Reidy’s recommendation as “ludicrous,” since the three union leaders for years have been on unpaid leaves of absence from the federal government.

“The decision cuts at the heart of America’s position of participatory democracy,” Sombrotto said in a statement. “As a union president, I have a responsibility to speak out to the 275,000 members I represent on all issues that can affect their livelihood and their families.”

Urged Mondale Endorsement

The three officials, in union publications, urged their membership to endorse Democratic presidential candidate Walter F. Mondale and oppose Reagan. Sombrotto and Biller additionally asked members to lend financial support to Mondale.

“Shown here are no mere independent expressions of political opinion on candidates but undisguised pleas for help to support challenger Walter Mondale in an attempt to unseat President Ronald Reagan,” Reidy’s recommendation said. “Their actions were a political strategy having partisan premises.”

The union leaders may appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals if the merit systems board rules against them.