Strikers to Lose Jobs, Convair Officials Say

General Dynamics officials said Friday they will not recall striking machinists whose jobs have been filled by non-union workers hired by an employment agency, but the union countered by suing the company and agency, accusing them of illegal strikebreaking activity.

About 4,000 machinists struck General Dynamics’ Convair Division on July 19 and have rejected two contract offers from the company. Officials from the International Assn. of Machinists and Aerospace Workers have predicted that the strike, which has been mired in a dispute over seniority and job security, would last between four to six weeks.

General Dynamics spokesman Jack Isabel said the company had hired 300 new workers as of Friday and expects to hire “at a rate of 60 a day over the next several weeks.” Isabel and Convair officials insist that the new workers are permanent replacements for striking machinists.

Union spokesman Tom Roberts said Friday that the union will reject any strike settlement that does not allow all striking workers to return to their jobs. But Isabel said that the company’s position on the non-union workers is firm.

“These are permanent replacements. People who we have hired will keep their jobs. We have told them that the jobs are theirs, forever,” said Isabel.

The hiring of replacement workers is not uncommon in most strikes. However, these workers are usually laid off when a strike settlement is reached. In instances where replacement workers are kept on, most strike agreements require that they join the union. When this happens, most replacement workers are usually laid off soon after becoming a part of the union because they lack sufficient seniority.

In most cases, only when a company feels that it has enough work to keep the additional employees are the new workers allowed to remain.

Roberts and other union officials called the company’s action in hiring replacement workers “a scare tactic,” but they admitted that about 600 strikers have crossed the picket line and returned to work.

“I’m telling you, we will not go back to work unless the company hires back everyone who went on strike,” said Roberts.

Filed Complaint

On Friday afternoon, attorneys for the union filed a complaint in San Diego County Superior Court alleging that General Dynamics and the employment agency, United Technical Services, are engaging in illegal strikebreaking. According to the complaint, the two companies violated provisions of the California Business and Professional Code prohibiting both an employment agency from sending workers to a business where a strike is in progress and a company from hiring the workers.

The union asked the court to issue a temporary restraining order stopping the company from hiring non-union workers supplied by United Technical Services.

Convair officials described United Technical Services as a Los Angeles based employment agency. However, there was no telephone listing in Los Angeles for the company and Isabel said that he did not know the company’s phone number. There is no record of the company being registered with the state Bureau of Personnel Services, officials at the agency said.

Employment agencies are required to register with the state if they charge an applicant for job placement, state officials said. However, the firm does not need to register if the charge is paid by an employer, like Convair, and not the worker.

“Our contract is with the agency,” said Isabel. “We pay the agency.”

Convair officials denied that the agreement with United Technical Services violates state law. Isabel called the union lawsuit “completely without merit.”