Union Feud Stalls Vote on Douglas Pact

More feuding between national and local leaders of the United Auto Workers union has delayed a second vote on ratification of a new contract for 20,000 workers at Douglas Aircraft in Long Beach.

Richard Rios, the president of UAW Local 148, last weekend joined 20 other union negotiators in signing an agreement recommending ratification. But this week, Rios refused to hold meetings for the rank and file to vote.

A spokesman for Rios said Friday that Rios changed his mind because he felt he had been “pressured” by national representatives of the union and Douglas management into signing the ratification recommendation.

The new agreement does not deserve to be ratified because it represents no change from an initial tentative contract that was overwhelmingly defeated by UAW members March 24, according to Steve Burke, a spokesman for Rios.

Frank Allen, a federal mediator overseeing the negotiations, said Rios’ was “playing with the lives of . . . workers.”

The labor contract at Douglas and three other divisions of McDonnell Douglas Corp. expired March 24. The three small divisions, in Oklahoma and Arkansas, have come to terms, leaving only Douglas’ unionized employees working without a contract.

Key issues yet to be resolved include company proposals involving changes in job classification and a non-standard work week.

Allen said both sides were meeting Friday in an effort to reach agreement on scheduling a new vote next week. Management previously said it would take the tentatively approved agreement “off the table” if workers had not ratified it by 12:01 a.m. today.