Rubatex faces surveillance charge from NLRB

BEDFORD, Va. (Feb. 7)—Rubatex Corp. will have a hearing later this year on a National Labor Relations Board complaint that it illegally monitored via camera and video the union activities of striking Steelworkers picketing outside its Bedford facility. The company has 14 days to answer the charge. USWA Local 240, which has been on strike against Rubatex since Sept. 12, first filed the charge with the NLRB on Sept. 17. Several other charges were dropped by the NLRB, including those claiming the company engaged in bad faith, regressive and surface bargaining; failed to provide relevant requested information; unlawfully locked out union members prior to contract expiration; and unlawfully cut off life insurance coverage.