UMW Abandons Attempt to Enlist 'Cliffe Workers

The United Mine Workers has withdrawn its petition to represent Radcliffe maintenance workers now members of Local 254 of the Building Service Employees' International Union.

The UMW is now seeking to represent 35 kitchen employees, but its petition to the Massachusetts Labor Relations Commission has been contested by both Local 254 and the AFL Cooks and Pastry Cooks International.

"We beat off the maintenance raid, but the kitchen workers' petition took us by surprise," remarked Edward Sullivan, president of the Building Service local.

The Labor Relations Commission took the UMW petition to represent the kitchen workers "under advisement" yesterday morning. The hearing was complicated by the dual "intervention" of the Building Service and Cooks unions. No jurisdictional election can be held until those unions decide which of them will contest the UMW.

Contract negotiations between Radcliffe and the Building Service local were delayed until the UMW dropped its attempt to organize the College's maintenance workers, and have not yet been resumed.