BE-LO SEEKS TO APPEAL LABOR BOARD DECISION

NORFOLK, Va. -- Be-Lo, a division of Camellia Food Stores here, said it will appeal a decision by the National Labor Relations Board that found the chain had committed unfair labor practices in a union election four years ago. The board ordered Be-Lo to recognize and reopen bargaining with the union, to reinstate and compensate 11 employees who had been illegally discharged and to reimburse the union for certain expenses. The NLRB decision applies to 20 of the 28 stores Be-Lo operates in Virginia and North Carolina.

discharge them because of their support for the union; threatening layoffs and reductions in work hours, and denying access to union picketers outside its stores. Guy Sykes, Camellia president, said the company will appeal the NLRB order to the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond. He said that because Be-Lo employees had defeated the union's organizing effort by UFCW Local 400 in March 1991, "we would be selling our employees out if we did not appeal this decision." Thomas R. McNutt, president of UFCW Local 400, told SN Be-Lo's decision to file an appeal "is a cheap way of delaying the bargaining process for another year. But the NLRB decision is written well enough that it will stand up to an appeal."