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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Olivetti Dispatchers To Join Machinists

From Staff And Wire Reports

In a union certification election held Friday, dispatchers at Olivetti North America Inc., chose the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers to represent them.

“There are 50 people in the unit and we won the election two-to-one,” said Franz Ortloff, the union’s grand lodge representative.

Ortloff said the union represented Olivetti’s dispatchers several years ago before the company relocated the operation to Spokane from Shelton, Conn.

Union representation in the computer and high-tech industries is relatively rare, particularly in the Northwest.

Ortloff said the union is currently waging a campaign to organize about 400 Olivetti service engineers nationwide.

Craig McLure, the union’s local business representative, also announced that the Machinists recently successfully organized mechanics at Critzer Equipment Co. McLure said the union was unanimously approved by the 10-person unit.

, DataTimes