Electricity plant sues union over picketing tactics

Grace Leong

Monday, April 10, 2000 | 11:23 a.m.

A California partner of the Mohave Generating Station in Laughlin is seeking an injunction to stop a union from using protest tactics that it claims endanger the power plant's workers and property.

Southern California Edison Co., which owns 56 percent of the plant, said the Southern California-Nevada Regional Council of Carpenters began picketing at the station after its members lost scaffolding jobs to the Public and Industrial Workers Local 40 and the Utility Workers Union of America Local 246.

Edison -- which said its workers are represented by the utility union -- claimed the carpenters started picketing April 2 after the company hired a new subcontractor, Flyash Haulers Inc., whose workers are represented by the industrial union, to erect scaffolding at one of the plant's generating units, now closed for a maintenance outage. The carpenters' union represented workers of Edison's former subcontractor, Aluma Systems.

Edison sued the carpenters' union last week in Clark County District Court, alleging its picketing violated Nevada law because several union members threatened Edison employees, damaged their vehicles, obstructed traffic at the station and allegedly fired a road flare into the station.

But Frank Hawk, a senior business representative of the carpenters' union, denied those claims. He said the purpose of the picket is to protest Flyash's alleged unfair labor practices -- mainly its refusal to hire workers who are members of the carpenters' union.

"Edison claims this is a fight between the unions and that we should settle our dispute away from Edison's plant. This is nothing but propaganda being handed out by Edison spin doctors. They are just trying to pit one union against another to divert attention," Hawk said. "Besides, we haven't received correspondence from this union asking for a settlement, so Edison's claim is illegitimate."

"I believe this is the first time in 26 years the carpenters' union isn't building the scaffolding during an outage at that station," he said. The scaffolding serves as a platform that enables workers to perform maintenance work.

The carpenters' union, which filed charges of unfair labor practices against Flyash with the National Labor Relations Board on March 31, said it started the protest with about 100 picketers April 2.