DE Asst. Features Editor

A construction project worked on by agricultural students was inspection by labor organization representatives Tuesday to ensure the project met with the University’s labor agreement, a University employee says.

Adam Kantrovich, a graduate student in agricultural education from Des Plains, said for an assignment, students in the agriculture independent study class began minor electrical and drywall construction on an apartment inside the SIUC Horticultural Research Center.

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SIUC has a collective bargaining agreement with various labor organizations that provides for exclusive rights to specific work in University buildings.

Marian Brown, associate director of operations at Plant and Services Operations, said any building on campus property is subject to the agreement.

Students can’t work on anything on campus, she said. We have agreement with the unions.

Kantrovich said students working on the project were constantly checked by faculty for safety precautions. He said the project was undertaken purely for academic reasons.

As long as we are doing the construction right, I don’t see a problem, he said. We’re not out to take anyone’s job. We need the outside class experience, that’s all.

Tim Murray, a graduate student in agricultural mechanics from Carbondale, said work began on the apartment in December 1994, and the union organizations contacted the department last week.

They told us we can proceed with the work, he said.

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Rick Hampton, a Human Resource representative, said the matter simply involves an assessment by the labor organizations to ensure work was not assigned that infringed on the unions.

It was an academic exercise as part of an independent study course, he said. It was not an assignment of work, but the unions have a right to inspect University property to determine if there has been an infringement on their work.

Hampton said copies of the independent study agreement and course catalog were given to the union representatives when the groups met on Tuesday.

We gave them the evidence that this was not an assignment of work, he said. If they are satisfied with the explanation, they will not take any action. But if they find infringement, they can file a grievance. It’s their right.

Brown said the agreement is needed for safety reasons. She said construction needs to meet special codes and safety orders.

There are a lot of matters to be considered, she said. For example, anything regarding electrical work should be done by a trained electrician.

James Tweedy, vice chancellor of administration, said infringement problems are usually worked out before an academic unit duplicates the work of a particular craft for a class.

A number of things are worked out in advance so complications do not arise, Tweedy said. We sit down and work them out together.’

Hampton said unions monitor possible infringements on their work frequently.

It’s rare a project gets this far without them hearing about it, he said. But it’s partly because of the isolation where the work was performed.

According to the collective bargaining agreement, if the class project is found in violation, the estimated costs will be charged back to the department.

The union stewards for the electric and carpentry unions were unavailable for comment.