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Ex-employee takes OSF to labor board By Bill Varble An Ashland woman has filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board charging the Oregon Shakespeare Festival with an unfair labor practice. A complaint filed on behalf of Janet Voorhees of Ashland by Portland attorney Monica Smith alleges the festival laid off Voorhees because of her involvement in a union organizing drive. A festival spokesman on Monday denied the allegations. Voorhees, who worked in the festival�s scene shop, where theatrical sets are built, alleges that she was considered a good employee until she began taking part in an effort by a stage employees union to organize OSF employees. "Nobody was laid off for union organizing activities," the OSF�s Paul Nicholson said. A spokeswoman for the NLRB in Portland said the complaint has been assigned to an investigator. Voorhees is described in the complaint as "an active and vocal supporter of the union" and the head of an employee organizing committee. The complaint says that shortly after a vote to decide if employees would be represented by the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees failed by one vote in June, Voorhees received a negative evaluation for the first time. The complaint alleges Voorhees "was subjected to a campaign of increased scrutiny and discriminatory performance standards." On June 28, it says, Voorhees was informed her employment would be "nonrenewed" immediately. Voorhees was named head of the organizing committee by employees when IATSE filed a petition to represent OSF employees in 1999. "The decision not to re-engage her for the season has nothing whatsoever to do with whatever union activities she may have been involved in," Nicholson said. He said he wouldn�t comment further on the case. Cathleen Shelton of the NLRB�s Portland office said the NLRB normally takes sworn testimony from the charging party. If it appears there may have been a violation of the NLRB act, the NLRB asks the employer for its side of the story. "Then we determine whether or not there�s been a violation," Shelton said. "If so we�d try to settle it." If the NLRB finds that an employee was terminated because of union activity, the remedy would be to reinstate the employee with back pay, she said. If a voluntary settlement can�t be reached, the case would go to a hearing before an NLRB administrative law judge. A judgment can be appealed to the NLRB�s five-member panel in Washington D.C., and from there to a U.S. Court of Appeals. The NLRB�s investigation involves an agent taking sworn testimony. Shelton said the process typically takes 60 days or so. "An informal settlement would be for the employer to post a notice in the workplace and make the person whole (reinstate the employee)," Shelton said. The NLRB administers the National Labor Relations Act, the main law governing relations between employers and unions. The law ensures the right of employees to organize and bargain collectively with most employers involved in interstate commerce. One of the board�s main functions is to remedy unfair labor practices by either employers or employees, Shelton said. Some 35,000 cases come before the NLRB in a typical year. About one-third of the complaints are found to have merit. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.