; to - MANCHESTER HERALD, Saturday. Jan 18, 1986 MANCHESTER U.S./WORLD SPORTS Crestfield workers Homemakere^d Torct^ Ron Francis out disagree on raises new strengths :et^edy hel of Whale lineup By John F. Kirch The New England Health Care w Herald Reporter Employees Union. District 1199, ... page 3 ... page 5 ... page 11 which represents the strikers, fiied HARTFORD - Two Hartford a complaint with the NLRB Aug. 2 attorneys who are representing charging that the owners had owners of the Crestfield-Fenwood made a "unilateral change in nursing home in Manchester tried benefits” by denying workers a to demonstrate to an administra­ raise in July. tive law judge Friday that pay Some workers have said that the raises were not given to employees pay raise was not given because of II of the home each July as striking their union activities. Workers workers contend. voted 46 to 40 in December 1984 to Attorneys John Romanow aiid have District 1199 represent them, Karen Bledo of Updike. Kelly 4 but the home’s owners have Spellacy. the firm that represents refused to recognize the union as mxdmtn the home’s owners, brought four the employees’ legal bargaining ) Manchester — A City of Village Charm Hrralh witnesses to the stand during the agent. second day of National Labor About 60 nurse’s aides, house­ Relations Board hearings on a keeping and maintenance em­ union complaint that the owners ployees went on strike Oct. 21 to 25 Cents denied workers a traditional protest the owners’ refusal to Monday, Jan. 20,1986 summer raise because employees negotiate with District 1199. organized. After an investigation into the The witnesses, all current em­ union’s complaint about the pay ployees of the Vernon Street home raise, the NLRB ordered the As nation honors King, some a dream betrayed who have not joined the strike, said hearings before the law judge. that they had no reason to expect a The home’s owners — Vernon progressing very well as com­ pay raise in July 1985. The social worker Howard Dickstein By George Lavng the path to equal opportunity in are being reversed and ignored activist who participated in the witnesses added that they had been and Manchester attorneys Holland and deregulated.” march on Washington in 1963, pared to 10 years ago,” said HRC Herald Reporter both politics and employment is Chairman Robert Faucher. "Over­ told during an Oct 26. 1984. Castleman and Josiah Lessner — less clearly defined than it was 20 See pages 4,6 Dr. Floyd Bass agreed. where King gave his famous "I employee meeting that they would said that workers were informed at Bass, the director of the Univer­ Have a Dream” speech, and now is all, Manchester has an undeserved Manchester has 57 patrol offic­ years ago, when the Rev. Martin reputation as a bigoted commun­ receive an hourly raise of 60 cents the time they received the October ers on its police force, all of them Luther King Jr. led the civil rights for m ore on holiday sity of Connecticut’s Center for an executive with a Hartford at that time with the next pay 1984 pay raise that the next Black Studies, said real gains have Insurance company, said ity. Efforts have seriously been white. struggle. made by the powers that be in the increase scheduled for October increase would not come for And in recent years, the town’s Blacks across the nation now been made in the past 20 years, but minority-group members are still 2 1985 another year. that "in some areas there has been being dented opportunities be­ last few years.” efforts to fill Jobs on the police flood polling places and most But Faucher admitted that a lot "I recall us getting a raise (in Workers have said they were force and elsewhere in the work hiring policies, including Man­ holiday in his memory is retrogression.” cause of racism. Oct. 1984)." Pattie Berry, a never told this and expected the celebrated? "There have been some advan­ “Affirmative action is dead,” he more work needs to be dofte. force with members of minority chester’s, call for equal opportun­ Nancy Carr, ex«|cutive director housekeeper at the 155-bed facility, traditional raise in July. groups have been the subject of ity. Yet the police force remains all "It would be Dr. King’s night­ ces, such as voter registration and •aid. testified Friday. "It was a big Two days after the strike began, Herald photo by Bathaw mare,” Ben Andrews, head of the the election of black officials,” he As for Manchester, Smith said it of the Manchester Area Confer­ sharp debate between local acti­ white and there are still only a few ence of Churches, said minorities raise. I left the room thinking that employees still on the job received vists and town officiais. minority workers among the state chapter of the NAACP. said said. But, Bass added, “You can’t "refuses to hire qualified blacks we got a raise and that we wouldn’t an hourly pay increase of 50 cents. when asked what the slain civil do enough really at this time to because of racism and discrimina­ in the 1980s confront institutional Many shapes and sizes Critics say the town is not doing town’s more than 400 full-time racism. She said' while town get another one for another year” Federal attorneys Stephen Fan­ enough to attract job applicants employees. rights leader would think if he were work for better relations between tion. ’The dream is alive, but it’s not ning and Jonathan Kreisberg. who alive today. blacks and whites.” achieved. It’s not a reality.” officials are not themselves ra­ 8 First-graders at Washington School sport a variety of the elementary school on Cedar Street were asked to don from minority groups. Town offi­ Around the state and country, cists, the hiring process is discrim­ are representing the NLRB in the Bass said, for instance, that only But the chairman of the town’s their favorite hats for the day, Principal Ray Gardiner cials, for their part, say they have the poverty rate for blacks re­ case, have tried to establish that hats for “Hat Day” Friday as they listen to the Dr. Seuss "AT THIS STAGE, the issue of limited opportunities exist for Human Relations Commission inatory and tends to exclude Sullivan PAC simply been unlucky and defend mains much higher than for blacks. the owners set a pattern of two pay story, “The 500 Hats.” All students and staff members at said. the hiring practices that are in whites. human rights is regressing in this blacks to receive training at disagreed. rasies each year — one in January post-secondary institutions. force. Is King’s dream becoming a country,” Andrews said in a recent Please turn to page 4 backs O’Neill and one in July. Striking em­ Both sides agree, however, that reality today as the first national interview. “The laws on the books Frank Smith, a Manchester “I THINK MANCHESTER is ployees testified Thursday that A political action committee has they had traditionally received Town faces MMH suit been formed by Democratic State increases at these times. Connecticut In Brief Central Commiteeman John Sulli­ The Hartford attorneys Friday van to work in Manchester for the countered those arguments. over indigent patients Paint company agrees to pay re-election of Gov. William O’Neill The hearing will resume Feb. 3 N.Y. France, Britain and is expected to last two more HARTFORD — One manufacturer of lead paint has signed an over former U.S. Rep. Toby Friday from the town attorney’s Moffett and will hold a $100-a-plate days, officials have said. Judge Manchester Memorial Hospital agreement with' the state to pay for the cost of removing and fund-raising dinner Jan 30. Harold Lawrence, who is hearing has filed a lawsuit against the town office to comment. replacing the lead-based paint it produced that is now in Connecticut the case, said Thursday that close seeking payment of more than The suit was filed in Hartford homes. Democratic Town Chairman Superior Court earlier this week by awaits Theadore Cummings and Jo-Ann to 28 witnesses would be called to $32,000 in hospital bills for four Attorney General Joseph I, Lieberman and Consumer Protection plan railroad the stand. indigent Manchester residents. attorney Robert D. Tobin of New Commissioner Mary M. Heslin announced Friday the removal costs Moriarty, a member-elect to the London. Board of Education, will co-chair In addition to the four nursing Under state law. a municipality could exceed $3 million. home workers who testified Friday is required to furnish indigent The four patients named in the the dinner. suit were admitted to the hospital The two officials said Benjamin Moore, the manufacturer of Navy The governor and Mrs. O'Neill afternoon, four strikers testified in people with necessary Gray Deck Enamel, has agreed to pay for the removal and winner for treatment between Nov. 21, will attend the dinner, set for 7p.m. the morning. They reiterated the hospitalization. replacement of its lead paint. under Channel arguments made Thursday. Andrew A. Beck, the hospital’s 1984, and July 10,1985. The patients at the Steak Club in Vernon. About The state officials also said any consumer who purchased 125 guests are expected to attend. The home’s owners have said director of public relations, said and the amount of their bills are By Carol Rotenberg they will negotiate with District Friday that hospitals commonly William Cole, $9,871; Jennifer Chemray paint since 1978 or any brand or color of paint from United Press International Secretary of the State Julia LILLE, France (AP) - Presi­ "Above all it is a challenge and I Tashjian is honorary chairman.