A charge of unfair labor practice has been filed against the Covidien plant in Hobart regarding the termination of two employees, a union official said Wednesday.
William Palmer and Daniel Whiteman were allegedly fired for a workplace safety violation, but Palmer said Wednesday he believes he was fired because he was backing the organization of a union at the plant.
The charge was filed July 25 with the National Labor Relations Board in Albany, said Vincent Cavo, United Food and Commercial Workers Local One organizing director.
A NLRB spokesman said Wednesday that the case is being investigated, but it would take time to finish the investigation before it is determined whether the claim has merit.
Jim Walter, Covidien plant manager, did not return a phone message Wednesday.
"I feel they fired us without a good reason," said Palmer, 55, of Hobart. "We both had flawless work records, and they said we broke a safety violation, which is done all the time up there."
Palmer said he and Whiteman, formerly of the Hobart area, had gone to work for Covidien four years ago and were warehouse workers.
"They make selective choices about who gets fired and who doesn't, and it doesn't seem to me that it should be just me and Dan," Palmer continued. "They have a very unfair way of doing things."
Kevin Alvar, 56, is a machinist who had worked for Covidien for three years before he was fired Aug. 14.
Alvar said he had been passed up for promotions and questioned whether his age was keeping him from advancing.
"I started yelling age discrimination, and that's when all my problems started," Alvar said Wednesday. "I was so grateful when the union organizer came along."
Alvar said he was accused of extending his 15-minute breaks on New Year's Eve and again in July, but added that it was only after he began supporting unionizing the plant that he was fired.
Cavo said workers have been trying to unionize the Hobart pharmaceutical plant for several years but have been unsuccessful. He said he began working with the employees earlier this year and held an initial meeting May 7 at the Cyr Center in Stamford.
"A lot of the workers were afraid to come into the meeting because one of the big bosses was at the Cyr Center for a dog obedience class and they were afraid to be seen at a union meeting," Cavo said.
He added that another meeting is planned.
Cavo said there are about 800 employees at the plant, but just more than 500 are qualified for the bargaining unit. It would require 30 percent of qualified members to sign a show of interest to file a petition to form a union.
UFCW Local One represents 20,000 members in upstate New York and Northern Pennsylvania, Cavo said.
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Patricia Breakey can be reached at 746-2894 or at stardelhi@stny.rr.com.
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