LV construction strikes go on and on

Brian Seals

Thursday, Oct. 8, 1998 | 12:03 p.m.

Non-union drywall workers in Las Vegas have joined their counterparts in the concrete industry in walking off the job and seeking union representation over the past two weeks.

About 130 workers with Tradewinds Construction, Pete King Corp. and MYS Drywall and Acoustics have walked off the job, union organizer Jim Sala said Wednesday.

That has resulted in some projects facing picket lines by the workers, including the Embassy Suites on Swenson Street and LaQuinta Inn near Cheyenne Avenue and Tenaya Way.

Workers are seeking a union contract and are protesting what they say are unfair labor practices by the companies.

"We've encountered, as usual, companies firing people and intimidating people for their union activity," Sala said.

Charges filed by the Building Trades Organizing Project with the National Labor Relations Board allege Pete King Corp. interrogated employees about union affiliations. Charges against MYS and Tradewinds allege they refused to consider hiring applicants with union affiliations.

Yet while union backers accuse the companies of oppressive activities, the companies accuse the workers and organizers of the same.

"I don't like their Gestapo tactics," said Michael Clark, owner of MYS Drywall and Acoustics.

He said the walk-out, about a week long at his company, has not yet significantly slowed down the progress of MYS projects. He said he didn't believe the majority of his workers wanted union representation.

Clark said he plans to file charges against the BTOP with the NLRB. A spokesman for Pete White Corp. said the same, declining to comment further.

Pete White is working on the Embassy Suites project and the LaQuinta Inn projects. Attempts to contact Tradewinds Construction officials failed.

The unrest in the drywall sector of the construction industry comes on the heels of walk-outs by concrete workers that began in July. Wednesday, about 100 workers staged yet another in a string of sit-in strikes against Kukurin Concrete at residential job sites -- this one at a development near Red Rock Country Club. One person, union organizer Bill Pastreich, was cited for trespassing.

However, about 50 workers and union organizers have received trespassing citations in recent weeks for such activity, said David Fishlow, spokesman for the Building Trades Organizing Project.

"From our point of view, this is an unfair labor practice strike," Fishlow said. "The workers are eager to get back to work, but they want an agreement that protects their right to organize."

BTOP has been the target of a court injunction won by Lewis Homes after protesters disrupted work at the Summerglenn development in northwestern Las Vegas in early September. Kukurin Concrete was a subcontractor on those jobs.

However, Kukurin, like the drywall companies, has filed unfair labor charges with the NLRB, alleging union backers have threatened workers who chose to stay on the job. Moreover, the company ran newspaper advertisements this week thanking its customers and workers who have stayed on the jobs in the face of union organizing activities.

Attempts to contact Kukurin officials for comment Thursday failed.

Also, concrete workers planned a candlelight protest in front of the homes of Precision Concrete owners. BTOP and the concrete workers union are seeking a contract with Kukurin and Precision.

Precision obtained an injunction against BTOP in August, to prevent strikers and organizers from entering or obstructing entrances to Precision Concrete job sites.