Saturn Pact Challenged by Non-Union Contractors
A group of predominantly non-union contractors says a labor agreement in the construction of General Motors Corp.’s new Saturn auto manufacturing plant violates federal law because it restricts the job to union subcontractors.
Associated Builders & Contractors Inc. (ABC) says the construction manager for the Saturn Corp. project, Morrison-Knudsen Co. of Boise, Ida., signed an agreement with the AFL-CIO Building and Construction Trades Department that will result in the exclusive use of union subcontractors.
Ninety percent of the members of the Washington-based ABC are non-union.
Construction Exempted
The group filed the charges last Thursday with the National Labor Relations Board in connection with the plant to be built in Spring Hill, Tenn.
Amendments to the National Labor Relations Act make it unlawful for an employer and a union to enter into an agreement restricting the employer to the use of union subcontractors. The amendments exempt the construction industry, but the ABC group is alleging that Morrison-Knudsen in its role as the construction manager does not qualify as a construction industry employer.
The contractors’ group also says that Morrison-Knudsen, in signing the agreement, unlawfully aided and assisted the unions and that the company illegally entered into an agreement before actually hiring any workers.
The charges also name Saturn as a party to the agreement. Construction is scheduled to begin early next spring.
Bill Harvey, assistant to the regional director in the NLRB office in Memphis, Tenn., said Tuesday that an investigation probably will be completed within the next week and that the NLRB general counsel in Washington ultimately will decide whether the labor contract is lawful.
This is the second set of unfair labor practice allegations filed in connection with the Saturn project.
Plant Bargaining Agent
The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation filed an unfair labor practice charge in Detroit against Saturn and officials of the United Auto Workers in August.
The foundation said Saturn illegally recognized the UAW as a bargaining agent for plant employees, a majority of whom will be from the union’s ranks. The right-to-work group says the arrangement violates federal labor law and right-to-work statutes in Tennessee.
GM spokesman Cliff Merriott and Morrison-Knudsen spokesman Vern Nelson said their companies would not comment on the latest charges.
However, Saturn spokeswoman Laurie Kay confirmed Tuesday that James R. Peters, Saturn’s director of plant construction, said in a letter to the ABC group in November that its relationships with its unions “are critical to its success as a new automobile company.
