> JUNE 24, 11:40 EDT
>
> Fieldcrest Cannon Workers OK Union
>
> By PAUL NOWELL
> Associated Press Writer
>
> KANNAPOLIS, N.C. (AP) - A textile union that has struggled for 25 years to
> represent workers
> at six Fieldcrest Cannon plants claimed victory after a two-day election.
>
> Workers voted, 2,270 to 2,102, to be represented by the Union of
> Needletrades Industrial and
> Textile Employees, but both the company and union challenged about 285
> votes each,
> National Labor Relations Board officials said early today.
>
> ``It is tied up on challenges. We cannot determine the winner,'' said NLRB
> election overseer
> Gary Stiffler.
>
> He couldn't say how long it would take to officially declare a winner
> because of the potential for
> litigation.
>
> Voting began Tuesday and ended Wednesday night.
>
> ``We won here,'' said UNITE organizer Mike Zucker. ``It's a historic
> victory. It's been a long
> time coming.''
>
> UNITE already represents 4,000 Pillowtex workers at nine plants in the
> United States and
> Canada.
>
> Pillowtex Chairman Chuck Hansen Jr., whose company bought Fieldcrest
> Cannon after the
> last union vote in 1997, told about 60 cheering employees the election
> provided no mandate
> for either side. He estimated as many as 500 eligible employees didn't vote.
>
> Advocates for the union erupted with cheers when the vote total was
> announced. About a
> dozen supporters ran outside of the A.L. Brown High School auditorium
> where everyone had
> gathered.
>
> ``Thank God we won,'' said Ruth Crisco, a folder at plant No. 6 in Concord.
>
> Anti-union workers showed little emotion. Some were defiant.
>
> ``We ain't lost yet,'' said Thelma Honeycutt, a weaver for 47 years at the
> No. 6 plant.
>
> Fieldcrest Cannon workers have rejected union organizing efforts four
> times, beginning in
> 1974. A court ordered an election in 1997 after the union claimed it lost
> a close 1991 vote
> because Fieldcrest intimidated and fired workers. The union lost the 1997
> election by 369
> votes out of 4,757 cast, and the NLRB again found irregularities.
>
> Dallas-based Pillowtex bought Fieldcrest Cannon shortly thereafter for
> $700 million, creating
> one of the world's largest makers of bed and bath linen. The top issues in
> this election were the
> estimated $50 million in modernization and job changes that have occurred
> since Fieldcrest
> was sold. UNITE said change was displacing workers.
>
> Fieldcrest Cannon makes towels, sheets and comforters under the names
> Royal Velvet,
> Cannon, Touch of Class and Charisma. Pillowtex makes bed pillows, mattress
> pads, blankets
> and down comforters under the Ralph Lauren, Disney and Martha Stewart names.
>
> North Carolina has 166,800 textile jobs, more than any state. But textile
> employment has
> declined for six decades because of improved technology and increased
> manufacturing
> overseas.
>
> Job losses accelerated in the past year as the Asian financial crisis
> boosted imports. U.S. mills
> also have been moving production to Mexico to cut costs by taking
> advantage of lower wage
> rates.
>
> North Carolina has the lowest proportion of union members in the country;
> unions represent
> just 4.2 percent of wage and salary workers.