Cato Institute
Policy Analysis
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Page 10
ity.  The prospect for legislation like FUVA, however,
depends in part on the frequency and magnitude of strike
violence by union officials to gain financial concessions
from employers.  Senate hearings in 1984 and 1985, occa-
sioned by the violence that occurred in the wake of
Enmons, indicate that the problem is quite serious.  So
does the 20-year database of reported union-related vio-
lence maintained by NILRR.
Union Violence: The Record
Senate Judiciary Committee hearings on the Hobbs Act
in 198439 uncovered new evidence of violence coordinated by
union officials.  In some cases, union officials facili-
tated the violence by busing union members to the site of
the violence.  The Senate Labor and Human Resources
Committee also held hearings on the need for changes to
the Hobbs Act.40 In particular, those hearings targeted
violence related to a strike by the Cement Workers Union
against the Missouri Portland Cement Company.
Testimony at the hearings revealed a pattern of esca-
lating violence that ultimately jeopardized innocent third
parties, including firemen who were called after strikers
cut down power lines.  The manager of a trucking terminal
and his wife were fired on repeatedly by high-powered
rifles.  Their offense was allowing some of Portland
Cement's truckers to use the terminal.  Throughout the
strike, the local's president and vice president encouraged
the pickets and personally blocked entrance to the plant.
More important, Illinois state policemen watched numerous
instances of criminal conduct without responding.
New York Daily News
In 1990, the Tribune Company, owners of the New York
Daily News, requested work-rule changes eliminating jobs
made unnecessary by technological advances and new distri-
bution practices.  A number of the positions targeted for
elimination were "no-show" jobs for which persons are paid
even though they never show up at the job.  Officials of
the paper's 10 unions argued that the News had failed to
make capital improvements that would have made the company
more competitive.
At first, the Tribune Company was able to publish the
Daily News with supervisors, managers, and a handful of
other staff.  Union officials called for a boycott by
readers and advertisers, but to little effect.41   Violence