2 Say They Were Fired for Wearing Union Buttons, File Charge

An unfair labor practice charge has been filed against Southwest Marine by an attorney for two workers who said they were terminated for wearing union buttons on the job.

Earlier this month, non-union Southwest Marine flew in about 50 sheet metal mechanics and carpenters from Northwest Marine, its sister shipyard in Portland, Ore., to work on the Viking Serenade cruise ship. Northwest Marine is a union shop, and the two workers who charged they were illegally terminated were part of the group of Portland workers.

According to the complaint filed Friday with the National Labor Relations Board, Debra Maloney and Robert Hill were terminated at Southwest Marine on May 15, after hey refused shipyard officials’ demands to take off Sheet Metal Workers Union pins they were wearing.

“Their services at Southwest Marine were terminated because they were wearing union buttons,” said labor attorney Richard D. Prochazka. “There were several (other union) workers who took their buttons off. To them, it was no big deal.”

According to the complaint, the Portland workers were told they would be able to work 12 hours a day, seven days a week, for at least three weeks, with overtime pay, if they agreed to come to San Diego on May 6 to work on the cruise ship.

Southwest Marine officials paid the workers’ air fare to San Diego and paid for their National City hotel room. The workers received $35 per diem and free trolley tickets to and from the shipyard.

However, the Portland workers were prohibited from displaying union paraphernalia, talking about the union or discussing their union wages with Southwest Marine workers, said the complaint. Maloney and Hill defied the ban against union paraphernalia and wore their union buttons, Prochazka said.

They were subsequently terminated and sent back to their jobs in Portland, where they only work 40 hours a week with no overtime, he added. Southwest Marine spent $856 in airline tickets for the workers to fly them home, said the complaint.

The complaint against Southwest Marine alleges that the company discriminated against the two workers and acted to discourage membership in a labor organization.

Inquiries about the complaint were directed to Southwest Marine’s human resources director, Mike Adams. A secretary said Adams was out of the office and unavailable for comment.