Restaurants' Unionization Is Unlikely

Employees of the Blue Parrot restaurant and Idler cafe will not likely unionize in response to the recent firing of all employees at the Ha'Penny pub and Ferdinand's restaurant, union officials said yesterday. All four restaurants are owned by the same person.

Thirty employees of Ferdinand's were fired January 4 after they filed a petition for union representation in response to the unexpected dismissal of all Ha'Penny workers the week before. Officials of Local 26, Hotel Restaurant Institutional Employees and Bartenders Union, AFL-CIO, which represents the dismissed Ferdinand's workers said at the time of the firings that they were talking to employees of the Idler and Blue Parrot.

Daniel F. Clifford, the secretary-treasurer of Local 26, and the primary organizer at Ferdinand's, said yesterday that it was unlikely that employees of the other two restaurants would file a petition for union representation in the next two weeks. But he did not completely rule out the possibility of a request sometime in the future.

"No place in the area has filed a petition and I don't know of any place where one is imminent," Clifford said.

A spokesman for Idler employees said yesterday they had made a group decision not to comment on possible unionization. And an employee who refused to give his name, said yesterday there was "nothing going on" at the Blue Parrot.

Last week, the fired Ferdinand's workers filed a grievance with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) charging Ferdinand's, Ha'Penny Inc. and the Atrium Inc. with unfair labor practices. Saying that Ferdinand's, the Ha'Penny and the Atrium restaurant, 50 Church St., were all part of the same corporation, union officials charged that the Ferdinand's workers were illegally fired because they attempted to unionize.

The suit also charges that Ferdinand's management attempted to prevent unionization by threatening employees picketing the restaurant with violence and possible legal action; as well as conducting surveillance of employees considering unionization.

The owner of the restaurants, Louis F. DiGiovanni, said yesterday he was "terribly sorry that what happened has happened," but refused to comment directly on the firings.

The NLRB yesterday began collecting sworn statements from the fired workers, Clifford said. In about three weeks, after obtaining affidavits from all former employees and members of management, the NLRB will make a preliminary ruling in the case, he added.

If the NLRB's regional director rules in favor of the fired employees, Ferdinand's could be forced to rehire all the former workers or negotiate an alternative settlement between management and labor