Engineers Union Fined in Owl Rock Incidents : Labor: Judge imposes a suspended $10,000 levy after ruling that the local was in civil contempt for violating a court order 10 times. Six other charges were dismissed.

A Superior Court judge in Los Angeles has handed Arcadia-based Owl Rock Products a minor victory in its six-month quarrel with its union over wages.

The court found Local 12 of the Pasadena-based International Union of Operating Engineers in civil contempt of a court order issued in September and imposed a “suspended” $10,000 fine.

Most of the 10 violations of the court order were committed in Owl Rock’s rock and cement plants in Anaheim.

Judge Kurt J. Lewin suspended the fine--$1,000 for each incident cited--but it will be payable if the union violates the court order in the future. Violations included placing spikes and other sharp objects in the company’s driveway to flatten vehicle tires and causing other damage to company property.

Lewin, who issued his ruling March 28, dismissed six similar allegations of violations in other locations where Owl Rock operates.

Union representatives could not be reached for comment.

Owl Rock, which is 50% owned by Ontario-based Mitsubishi Cement Corp., is one of Southern California’s major suppliers of construction materials. The company began experiencing incidents of vandalism after its labor contract with the union expired in August last year.

The 26,000-member union represents workers at 20 Owl Rock plants in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

“By fining them, the judge would stop the union from engaging in this type of illegal activity,” said Owl Rock’s sales and operations vice president, Mike Broome , on Wednesday. “We will pursue any violation of the injunction in the future even if we have to seek jail time for the individuals involved.”

Of the 10 violations cited, eight involved putting spikes to flatten vehicle tires, one on property damage and another for verbal threats, said Lynn Graack, Owl Rock’s vice president for administration.

Anthony Segall, an attorney for the union, said none of the 16 incidents that Owl Rock cited in court involved the company’s customers.