The AFL-CIO has publicly endorsed President Clinton's re-election but California unions are up in arms over a Labor Department decision to suspend -- and possibly oust -- a key official for reportedly siding with the Justice for Janitors campaign. PNS associate editor David Bacon writes on immigration and labor issues.

SACRAMENTO -- California labor is up in arms over an effort to fire Richard Sawyer, the Department of Labor's representative for the western region, for reportedly siding with one of the most innovative union organizing drives in the country. Labor activists claim pressure for the dismissal comes from Silicon Valley's high-tech chieftains -- the most politically powerful industry in the country -- along with Republican politicians determined to ban new militant union organizing techniques.

Sawyer headed the AFL-CIO's South Bay Labor Council in Silicon Valley in the early 1990s and was appointed to the Labor Department in 1993. He apparently ran into trouble when he phoned Hewlett-Packard's facilities manager at the company's Palo Alto headquarters last December to discuss Somers Building Maintenance, the Sacramento-based company handling H-P's janitorial work.

In the early 1990s, the Department had accused Somers of failing to pay $60,000 in overtime to its workers. The case had been settled for a smaller amount, but was still the subject of ongoing attention, according to Somers spokesperson Randall Schaber. But Somers is also a focal point of the Service Employees Union (SEIU)'s high-profile Justice for Janitors campaign in northern California.

Last spring, Somers employees had begun signing union cards with SEIU's Local 1877, the janitors union local which had been organizing building maintenance workers in the state capitol for over a year. The union had already succeeded in raising wages in Alameda County and Silicon Valley by signing contracts with building service companies there to standardize wages and end competitive bidding among themselves.

After winning a majority of workers' support at Somers last spring, Local 1877 asked the firm to recognize the union but the company refused. According to company spokesperson Randall Schaber, the company insisted that the union agree to a labor board election. The union resisted on the grounds that NLRB-conducted elections involve lengthy delays, extensive legal maneuvers, company intimidation of workers and often firings.

In August, Somers began its own drive to sign workers with a hitherto unknown union, Couriers and Service Employees Local 1, unaffiliated with the AFL-CIO. Claiming a majority of workers had signed with Local 1, Somers signed a contract with the new union which called for no wage increase.

Backers of Local 1877 soon began reporting threats on the job from Local 1 representatives. In September, according to the union, janitor Isidro Camarillo was attacked at night in one of the buildings, and on October 27 Luis Camarillo was beaten by a Local 1 steward.

Richard Sawyer's phone conversation with Hewlett-Packard followed the beatings and numerous allegations of other illegal conduct by Somers and Local 1.

In January, the National Labor Relations Board verified Local 1877's charges when it issued a complaint against Somers for illegally assisting Local 1. The complaint accused the company of illegally intimidating, coercing, spying on and disciplining workers who supported Local 1877.

The NLRB issued a second complaint in March, again charging Somers with illegally assisting Local 1. In addition, the board said the company threatened to use the immigration status of its employees to stop them from supporting Local 1877.

While Somers is the immediate focus of Local 1877, the more important targets are corporations like Hewlett-Packard and Apple Computer which own the buildings and set the prices for contracts with the individual maintenance firms. The union tangled with Hewlett-Packard and eventually triumphed during its the high-profile Justice for Janitors campaign that included civil disobedience, hunger strikes and the threat of a boycott. Carried out by a broad coalition of community, religious and union groups, the campaign became a showpiece heralded by SEIU president John Sweeney last year during his successful effort to win the AFL-CIO presidency last year. Sweeney says the tactics used by unions like Local 1877 are the key to rebuilding union strength nationally.

A number of Republican politicians in Washington have announced their intention to outlaw tactics like those used by Justice for Janitors. Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-Mich.), whose House government oversight committee is conducting investigations into the Department of Labor and Commerce, has announced that he will hold hearings on new corporate campaign tactics. He has also subpoenaed the personnel records of every appointment in those departments which has not had to come before Congress for confirmation, including resumes, employment histories, telephone records and credit card vouchers.

It was after Hoekstra complained to Labor Secretary Robert Reich about Sawyer's telephone call that Sawyer was suspended and told not to talk to anyone. In early March Labor Department Deputy Secretary Tom Glynn demanded his resignation for "using bad judgment."

Marlene Somsak, a public relations spokesperson for Hewlett-Packard, says that the company didn't initiate Sawyer's investigation by the Department of Labor or Hoekstra's committee, but cooperated with it.

While unions across California have passed resolutions urging the Department of Labor to reinstate Sawyer, Somers spokesperson Randall Schaber predicts that the Somers case will feature prominently in Hoekstra's hearings.