LV firm ordered to reinstate workers with backpay

Monday, Jan. 21, 2002 | 10:47 a.m.

Precision Concrete, a Las Vegas contractor accused of firing 74 workers who went on strike in 1998, was ordered by the government to reinstate the 74 workers with backpay.

The Carpenters Union said 107 of its members and Precision Concrete workers went on a strike against the company in 1998 after workers who showed union support were threatened with termination and referral to the Immigration and Naturalization Service.

The National Labor Relations Board's Las Vegas office won an unfair labor practice lawsuit it filed against the company. Precision Concrete was ordered by Las Vegas administrative law Judge Michael Stevenson to reinstate the 74 workers with backpay. But the company rejected the ruling and filed an appeal with the National Labor Relations Board in Washington D.C.

The board on Dec. 20 upheld Stevenson's decision.

Precision President Chad Stewart disputed the board's ruling, saying 40 of the 74 workers accepted an offer of reinstatement by the company three years ago. "But they weren't paid backpay. Precision Concrete is considering appealing the board's (Dec. 20) decision to an appellate court."