Mahony, Union Settle Suit Over Cemetery Firings

Archbishop Roger M. Mahony and a textile workers union Monday said they have settled part of a bitter feud stemming from the union’s drive to organize workers at 10 Catholic cemeteries operated by the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.

Spokesmen for both sides said they had reached an out-of-court settlement of a lawsuit filed by the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union over the archdiocese’s 1989 firing of three gravediggers who had participated in the union drive. The three workers will receive an undisclosed monetary settlement.

The union and archdiocese are negotiating a possible settlement of a second lawsuit in which the union contends that Mahony prematurely broke off contract talks after the union narrowly won a representation election among 140 gravediggers.

The dispute has cost Mahony much of the support he won from organized labor during his years as a bishop.