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Shop Talk: Area employers found in violation of child labor laws
Sunday, September 10, 2000 By Jim McKay, Post-Gazette Staff Writer
After randomly investigating 102 businesses in Western Pennsylvania and West Virginia this summer, federal wage and hour inspectors uncovered child labor violations at 24 employers -- mostly country clubs, restaurants, recreational resorts and grocery stores. Civil penalties totaling $130,200 were assessed against 19 of the firms.
Richard Clougherty, district director of the Pittsburgh Wage and Hour office, said Friday his inspectors found 135 minors illegally employed, 112 working illegal hours, 31 working in prohibited occupations and 25 doing hazardous work.
The largest fine, $29,500, was levied against the Winterplace Ski Resort, Flat Top, W.Va., for hours violations. The St. Clair Country Club, the runner-up, was fined $22,550 for hours and occupation violations.
Larger fines imposed included those on Luigi's Restaurant, Clymer, $18,000; Luciano's Pizza, Bethel Park, $12,125; Latrobe Shop & Save, $10,800; Diamond Run Golf Club, Sewickley, $9,825; Fox Chapel Golf Club, $5,500; and Connoquenessing Country Club, Ellwood City, $5,500.
Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, 14- and 15-year-olds may work in nonhazardous jobs with limits on hours. Minors under age 18 are prohibited from driving a motor vehicle or using power-driven tools. There is no limit on the hours 16- and 17-year-olds can work, but they are prohibited from hazardous jobs, including pizza delivery.
Port Authority lauded
The Port Authority of Allegheny County and its unions -- the Amalgamated Transit Local 85, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 29 and the Port Authority Police Association -- received a governor's award for labor-management participation.
The award cited the creation of labor-management committees, the opening of communication to employees and development of a way to track the status and resolution of issues.
In Westmoreland County, the award went to L.E. Smith Glass Co. and American Flint Glass Workers Locals 102 and 537. They were nominated for having a cooperative relationship and for creating a policy handbook.
Transformer maker appeals
Pennsylvania Transformer Technologies Inc., a Washington County manufacturer, is appealing a new order by the National Labor Relations Board directing it to recognize the United Steelworkers as employee bargaining agent.
A three-member NLRB panel on Aug. 25 affirmed a 1998 decision by an administrative law judge, Karl H. Buschmann, who ruled in favor of the union. The company appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and said it did so "in order to preserve its rights."
Pennsylvania Transformer has manufactured transformers since 1997 at a Canonsburg plant closed three years earlier by the previous owner, Cooper Power Systems. It now employs about 300.
The union represented employees under Cooper and a previous owner, McGraw Edison. It demanded recognition in 1998, arguing that a majority of workers then employed by the new firm had worked for Cooper.
The union contended and the board agreed that Pennsylvania Transformer, although smaller in size than Cooper, was a successor to Cooper and was, therefore, obligated to recognize the union.
Union, FirstEnergy tangle
The union representing workers at the Bruce Mansfield Power Plant in Shippingport is tussling with FirstEnergy over voluntary early retirement benefits.
The power company declined to implement an arbitrator's ruling that directed it to provide the benefits to some 20 members of Local 272 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.
Union spokesman Fred Harlan accused the utility company of discrimination, saying the early retirement plan was offered to management employees.
FirstEnergy appealed the decision to federal court. Spokeswoman Ellen Raines said the arbitrator overstepped his authority. The company maintains there was no reduction in union staff and, therefore, no need for a retirement program. She said management ranks at the plant were reduced.
Free training
Free training as a machinist or welder. That's what New Century Careers, a non-profit work force development organization, is offering to qualified applicants.
Call 1-800-227-8205 to request an application or register to attend an informational seminar. There are no income guidelines for the courses, which are offered in Allegheny, Armstrong, Washington and Westmoreland counties.
Actors, advertisers meet
Union actors and commercial advertisers, in the fifth month of a strike, are scheduled to renew negotiations Wednesday in New York amid mixed expectations. Federal mediators arranged the meeting among advertisers, the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.
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