The Michigan Daily - Thursday, May 26, 1983,- Page 17
Clerical eligibility challenged at union vote
(Continued from Page 3) THE challenged votes are pulled and Jarmer said. their ballots would be kept secret.
feared they would lose their right to a then submitted to a panel including SOME UNION supporters, however One top-level secretary, who has
secret ballot. union, MERC, and University said this was a move to keep clericals worked at the University for 18 years,
Clericals whose status was representatives, said Shlomo Sperka, from unionizing. said being challenged was "very
challenged were required to enclose MERC official. "I think it was very political and very frustrating." The woman, who asked
their ballots in a second envelope and Any clerical who has any supervisory arbitrary the way the potential unit was not to be identified, said she feared her
write their names and social security duties may be considered ineligible to defined by the University," said Tom vote would be disqualified because she
numbers on them. The double envelope vote, said Jim Jarmer, Michigan's Vega-Byrnes, library assistant. "The didn't support AFSCME.
ensured that the ballots remained director of the American Federation of University wants to make sure people THE UNIVERSITY believes the 153
secret and allowed union officials to State, County and Municipal Em- with strong feelings for the union are names AFSCME eliminated was an
check a clerical's eligibility. ployees (AFSCME). kept out." improper challenge, said Thiry.
Under guidelines by the Michigan The list which was issued in late April AFSCME eliminated 153 names from The 153 employees were all the
Department of Labor Employment was updated before the vote when the the list because the employees had highest ranking secretaries at the
Relations Commission (MERC) both University eliminated names of 25 em- some managerial duties, said Jim University, Thiry said. Most of these
the union and the University are ployees considered "confidential," and Thiry, University's personnel director top-level workers receive the highest
allowed to challenge a voter's an aditional 26 workers who had been SOME CLERICALS who were salariesandhaveseniority.
eligibility. fired, promoted or transferred, challenged said they were not confident
Fleetwood
closes, ends
Ann Arbor
tradition
(Continued from Page 1)
The diner, which was unable to
scrounge up the money to pay the taxes,
was devastated by the penalty, Dum-
sick said.
"I DON'T have money coming out my
ears. This is a small business, not
General Motors," she added.
Several diehard Fleetwood
customers are planning a drive to save
the diner. Leslie DePrietro, one of the
drive organizers, said she feels the IRS
is overstepping its legal bounds by
charging such a steep penalty.
"The Nazi's are out in full force,"
said DePrietro. "I'm concerned about
the violation of the Fleetwood's civil
liberties."
THE FEDERAL bankruptcy court in
Detroit ordered the diner closed to
protect creditors.
Before the diner can reopen, the
Fleetwood must sign a petition for
bankruptcy which must be approved by
the federal court. Dumsick said she
also has to round up the 20 employees
who were temporarily laid off.
The entire food stock was sold to pay
off debts, which also must be replaced
before the Fleetwood reopens, she said.
"I hope our reorganization will be
satisfactory to the court," she said. "Af-
ter making it through three years in a
bad recession, it would be terrible to
close because of this."
UNTIL THE Fleetwood can pay off
its debts, all checks issued by the diner
will read "debtor in possession," which
will cause many of their suppliers to
stop doing business with them. In ad-
dition, monthly financial statements
will have to be prepared for the court.
Two other Ann Arbor restaurants
have also closed this month. Bimbo's,
once a popular pizza restaurant and
bar, closed its doors this week although
it has been operating under Chapter 11
guidelines for a few months.
Bimbo's owner Tony Maties is
scheduled to appear in Federal
bankruptcy court on May 31.
The Central Cafe, a small homey
restaurant on South Main, informed
workers Monday that it was closing
permanently. The cafe shut down the
same day, before the end of business
'hours.
Dumsick said she suspects Central
Cafe was also bankrupt, but the owners
could not be reached for comment.
CUSTOMER INFORMATION FROM GENERAL MOTORS
HOW TO SAVE YOUR LIFE
AND THE ONE NEXT TO YOU.
OVERCOMING YOUR PSYCHOLOGICAL RESISTANCE TO SEAT BELTS MAY BE THE KEY.
The facts are startling.
Experts estimate that almost
half of all automobile occu-
pant fatalities and many
serious injuries might have
been avoided if the people
had been wearing seat belts.
That's because most injuries
occur when the car stops
abruptly and the occupants
are thrown against the car's
interior or out of the car. Belts
reduce this risk.
Many people say they
know the facts, but they
still don't wear belts. Their
reasons range all over the
lot: seat belts are trouble-
some to put on, they are un-
comfortable, or they wrinkle
your clothes. Some people
even think getting hurt or
killed in a car accident is a
question of fate; and, there-
fore, seat belts don't matter.
If you're one of those
people who don't use belts
for one reason or another,
please think carefully about
your motivations. Are your
objections to seat belts based
on the facts or on rational-
izations?
Here are a few of the
common rationalizations.
Many people say they are
afraid of being trapped in a
car by a seat belt. In fact, in
the vast majority of cases,
seat belts protect passengers
from severe injuries, allowing
them to escape more quickly.
Another popular rationaliza-
tion: you'll be saved by being
thrown clear of the car. Here
again, accident data have
proved that to be untrue-
you are almost always safer
inside the car.
Some people use seat
belts for highway driving,
but rationalize it's not worth
the trouble to buckle up for
short trips. The numbers tell
a different story: 80% of all
automobile accidents causing
serious injury or death involve
cars traveling under 40 miles
per hour. And three quarters
of all collisions happen less
than 25 miles from the driver's
home.
When you're the driver,
you have the psychological
authority to convince all of
the passengers that they
should wear seat belts. It
has been shown that in a car,
the driver is considered to
be an authority figure. A
simple reminder from you
may help save someone's life.
Another common myth:
holding a small child in your
arms will provide the child
with sufficient protection
during a crash. The safety
experts disagree. They point
out that even during a 30
mph collision, a 10-pound
child can exert a 300-pound
force against the parent's
grip. So please make sure
Child Restraint Systems are
used for children who aren't
old enough to use regular
seat belts.
If you're an employer,
encourage your employees
to wear seat belts. At GM,
we've made it a matter of
policy that everyone riding
in company-owned vehicles
is expected to wear lap and
shoulder belts.
We heartily support the
program initiated by the
National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration to en-
courage the use of seat belts.
So please fasten your. own
belt, and urge your family
and friends to follow your
example. Even the best driver
in the world can't predict
what another driver will do.
This advertisement is part of
our continuing effort to give
customers useful information
about theircars and trucks and
the company that builds them.
U.
MARK OF EXCELLENCE
Chevrolet * Pontiac
Oldsmobile *"Buick
Cadillac * GMC Truck
_I