Employees of four Oklahoma cities, zoo ask to unionize

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- Petitions to organize unions for employees of four Oklahoma cities and a city zoo have been filed with a state labor board.<br/><br/>A total of about one-thousand employees in Bartlesville,

Tuesday, November 2nd 2004, 6:38 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- Petitions to organize unions for employees of four Oklahoma cities and a city zoo have been filed with a state labor board.

A total of about one-thousand employees in Bartlesville, Enid, Lawton and Moore and the Oklahoma City Zoo filed the petitions Monday.

The petitions were filed on the same day a new law went into effect allowing employees in the state's larger cities to unionize. The law affects only cities with a population of 35,000 or more.

But potential battles are emerging for two of the groups.

Bartlesville city officials say the city doesn't have a population of 35,000 so its employees can't use the law.

And the Oklahoma City Zoo trust says it doesn't believe the law applies to its employees.