Labor news from UNITE! Levi's workers unionize; second plant to go union this year.

ROSWELL, New Mexico--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 7, 1997--More than 550 workers at the Levi Strauss & Co. facility in Roswell are the latest group of Levi's workers to choose to join UNITE (Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees).

The company agreed to recognize the union after the majority of the workers signed union cards indicating that they wanted a union. A third party oversaw the card count today.

The Roswell workers are the third group of Levi's workers to join UNITE since the 1994 "Partnership" agreement between Levi and the union. Five hundred workers at the Albuquerque, N.M., facility joined UNITE in 1995, and the 450 Levi's workers in Blue Ridge, Ga., chose UNITE on January 22 of this year.

Twenty-three of Levi's facilities are now represented by unions, 19 of which are represented by UNITE. UNITE represents more than 7,500 Levi's workers across the country.

"Levi should be commended for honoring their workers' wishes to form a union, and the workers should be complimented for their success," said Bruce Raynor, executive vice president and southern regional director of UNITE. "Levi can and should serve as a model to other corporations in that they allowed workers the freedom to unionize in an atmosphere free of coercion."

Levi Strauss & Co. is the U.S.'s largest apparel manufacturer. Levi entered into the Partnership agreement in 1994 with one of UNITE's predecessor unions, ACTWU (Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers' Union). The Partnership agreement was intended to increase efficiency in the plants and give workers free choice concerning unionization.

UNITE represents a quarter of a million workers across the United States.

CONTACT: UNITE Southern Regional Joint Board

Lane Windham, 770/306-8856

Jo-Ann Mort, UNITE, 212/332-9365