Monday, May 5, 2003 | 11:04 a.m.
A Las Vegas worker who allegedly was blocked by a union from taking jobs because he refused to join the union has won a round in the courts for all non-union trades workers, a newspaper reported this week.
In what labor advocates say is a victory for non-union workers seeking protection from discriminatory practices by union hiring halls, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals threw out a September 2000 ruling by the National Labor Relations Board in Washington, D.C., that had dismissed discrimination claims brought by the Las Vegas worker against a union.
The ruling was reported by In Business Las Vegas, a sister newspaper to the Las Vegas Sun.
Steven Lucas, a member of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) Union Local 720 from 1981 through 1992, became embroiled in a seven-year legal battle with the union. Lucas had alleged the union arbitrarily expelled him from the hiring hall in May 1994 and refused to reinstate him despite his request in March 1995.
That cost Lucas, an audio-visual equipment technician, job opportunities in the Las Vegas trade show and convention industry, including one with AVW Audio Visuals Inc., a Las Vegas employer that has a collective bargaining agreement with the IATSE.
Lucas had contacted AVW in March 1995 about being available for work at an upcoming National Association of Broadcasters convention in Las Vegas. The company had then specifically requested Lucas but the IATSE union failed to refer him to AVW on grounds that he had been permanently expelled from the hiring hall in May 1994.
Stefan Gleason, vice president for Springfield, Va.-based National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation -- which provided free legal defense to Lucas -- said his case illustrates that union hiring halls give union officials the ability to undermine state laws that are in place to protect employees from "compulsory unionism abuse."
The union defended its decision to expel Lucas from its hiring hall and not reinstate him, saying his expulsion was due to "alleged complaints about his behavior at work assignments and towards Union officials" over a 15-year period.
Lucas scored an initial victory in June 1996 when NLRB administrative law judge Michael Stevenson in Las Vegas ruled in his favor, finding the union had violated federal labor laws when it barred him from using its hiring hall. The union was successful in its appeal, to the NLRB board in Washington, D.C., which overturned Stevenson's ruling in September 2000.
Lucas then filed an appeal with the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which reversed the board's ruling on April 16, saying the board had "erred" and that its initial findings were not supported by "substantial evidence."
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