Security Guards, Hospital Have Not Settled Dispute

The future of 18 security guards who were fired for striking against the Children's Hospital Medical Center (CHMC) in Roxbury remains uncertain as hearings on disputes between the center and the guards continue at the Massachusetts State Labor Relations Commission.

The guards' strike grew out of their dispute with the center-which is affiliated with Harvard Medical School-over whether they should be allowed to carry guns and to unionize. The guards-who were fired on October 22, a week after they walked off their jobs-will remain unemployed unless the hearings come out in their favor.

Complaints of unfair labor practices have been filed by both the CHMC and the security guards. A suit filed by the CHMC charged the security guards with conducting an illegal strike and obstructing vehicles entering hospital areas. The security guards' suit cites "threats, intimidation and coercion" of the guards by the medical center.

Not Known

An informal conference was held in which both sides restated their cases, and the first hearings began on November 9. George W. Lunn, director of Personnel at the Medical Center, said yesterday that it was impossible to predict when the situation would finally be resolved.

Lunn said that about 75 or 80 volunteers such as himself, mostly from the administrative staff of the center, are working part-time to fill the posts left vacant by the security guards.

"The set-up is working in that the center is being guarded, but it is certainly far from a final solution. A man who is working an 11 p. m. to 7 a. m. shift and has to be at his desk at 9 a. m. is going to be in a pretty bad way," Lunn said.