New Union

IN 1997, BOB CHASE, president of the National Education Association, began advocating a "new unionism," challenging members of the world's largest teacher union to "match your traditional advocacy for decent pay and working conditions with a forceful new advocacy for quality schools." Chase's timing was perfect. Education has never been an appropriate theater for industrial collective bargaining, in which both sides glower at each other across the table, the employer gives and the employee takes.

More than two dozen members of the Westminster Police Department have joined a union in a bid to improve wages and benefits, and to prevent officers from leaving for higher-paying jobs. The police union chapter was established late last month under a charter from the International Union of Police Associations. City officials and Westminster police Chief Roger Joneckis learned of the move Monday. Rich Roberts, a spokesman for the union, said 28 of 34 Westminster police officers eligible to join the union have become members.

Major League Baseball and the new World Umpires Association have reached a tentative contract agreement that will assure labor peace between the industry and its umpires through the 2004 season. Negotiations concluded yesterday in New York with a deal that improves wages and upgrades the umpires' pension plan while creating a new framework for performance evaluation and disciplinary action. It was long in coming - the old labor agreement expired last Dec. 31. But union chief John Hirschbeck said it was worth the wait.

The new World Umpires Association has reached a tentative agreement with Major League Baseball to resolve the fate of the 22 umpires who lost their jobs as part of the old union's ill-fated mass resignation ploy last summer. Under the deal, which must be approved by the disenfranchised Major League Umpires Association, 10 umpires would return to work, six would retire and six would receive financial buyouts. In order for the plan to go into effect, the old union must agree to drop a pending grievance against Major League Baseball aimed at reinstating all of the displaced umpires.

As Anne Arundel County Executive Janet S. Owens drives by the police union hall in Crownsville on her way to work this week, she'll see her office phone number on a sign asking the public to support police in their contract negotiations with the county. But union officials said that even before they erected the "Help Us Help You" sign, which is on Owens' route to work, they felt sure she and other county officials had gotten their message about needing a significant pay raise. "I'm actually optimistic about the negotiations," Fraternal Order of Police president Paul Ingley said Friday about talks with Owens' administration.

Longtime union chief Richie Phillips finally struck out yesterday. The National Labor Relations Board denied his final attempt to overturn the election that decertified his Major League Umpires Association and sanctioned a new umpires union. The new union, which was organized by veteran umpires Joe Brinkman, John Hirschbeck and Dave Phillips, is now free to begin negotiating a labor contract with Major League Baseball, though first it will meet Sunday in Phoenix to elect officers and choose a negotiating committee.

The National Labor Relations Board took another important step toward certifying a new union for major- league umpires yesterday when it shot down an attempt by deposed union chief Richie Phillips to challenge the election that decertified the Major League Baseball Umpires Association. The ruling set the stage for the Independent Umpires Organizing Committee to begin representing major-league umpires in negotiations with Major League Baseball on a new labor contract, though Phillips and MLBUA president Jerry Crawford still have the option of filing one more appeal before the NLRB certifies the new union.

Longtime umpires union chief Richie Phillips once again is showing his true colors. In the face of a resounding repudiation of his leadership by the rank-and-file members of the Major League Umpires Association, he has again chosen self-preservation over the best interests of the umpires he claims to care so much about.How else to explain his attempt to overthrow the will of the vast majority of major-league umpires, who voted by a 2-1 margin last month to form a new union?If Phillips truly were concerned about the future of the umpires -- rather than the future of himself -- he would have publicly announced his support for the new union and offered any assistance he could provide during the pending collective bargaining talks with baseball management.

Major-league umpires have voted decisively to decertify the Major League Baseball Umpires Association and form a new union, apparently bringing an end to the 21-year reign of contentious union czar Richie Phillips.The umpires voted 57-35 to oust Phillips in a mail-in election that was conducted by the National Labor Relations Board.The current union leadership is expected to contest the decertification effort, but the surprising lopsidedness of the vote makes it all but certain that NLRB regional director Daniel Silverman eventually will certify the new union proposed by the Major League Umpires Independent Organizing Committee.

More than half the membership of the Major League Baseball Umpires Association (MLBUA) showed up at Baltimore's Days Inn yesterday to discuss the possible formation of a new union.Despite pressure from the current union leadership to stay away from the daylong summit, 52 umpires attended the meeting, which was called by the Major League Umpires Independent Organizing Committee and moderated by Baltimore attorney Ron Shapiro.American League umpire Joe Brinkman, who along with John Hirschbeck and Dave Phillips have led the movement to topple union czar Richie Phillips, said the turnout made him "very optimistic" that a majority of umpires would vote to form a new labor organization when the National Labor Relations Board distributes mail-in ballots to all 93 members of the collective bargaining unit later this week.