FOR SEVERAL DAYS earlier this month, in a small hearing room on the 29th floor of the downtown Federal Building, management and labor from Seattle's Pacific Science Center (PSC) met and butted heads over a seemingly mundane human-resources issue: job classifications.

It's tedious stuff, but to the combatants who were testifying in front of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), the classification issue is at the heart of the battle that's brewing at the publicly funded Denny Avenue site.

Employees at the center have already signed a significant number of union cards. What is taking place now is a war over numbers. The employees want a collective- bargaining unit of 155 voting members. The center wants to bring the total voting population to 251, subtracting some pro-union employees and adding numerous clerical workers and temporary employees who (they hope) would vote against a union. "The union wants to get an election to represent those people who want to be in the union," says Dmitri Iglitzin, a Service Employees International Union attorney, "and management is refusing."

These anti-labor tactics are pretty common. What makes this battle unique is that your tax dollars may be partially funding the legal dispute. An estimated 30 percent of PSC's funding--$4.5 million--comes from city, state, and federal sources.

Local politicians are openly concerned that PSC is wasting public resources in an anti-union fight. PSC's stance against the union has even gotten Seattle Mayor Paul Schell making pro-worker political gestures. In a July 28 letter, Schell referenced an anti-union PSC memo that had come to the attention of his office. Schell wrote to PSC Executive Director George Moynihan that the memo's "tone and content disappointed me." Schell also told Moynihan that he had decided against attending PSC's annual fundraiser. "I firmly believe in the right of employees to make this [union election] decision without interference from their employer," Schell wrote.

The Pacific Science Center represents one of those innocuous nonprofits that Seattle's elite are always eager to support. The PSC's lily-white board of directors is a "Who's Who" of Seattle's business community, including vice presidents and chairs of Boeing, Bank of America, Nintendo of America, and SAFECO.

According to PSC employee Kevin Weyer, employees want a union for the typical workers'-rights reasons: low wages, no say in the workplace, and no benefits. "They force things upon us and we are forced to deal with it," says Weyer, a floor coordinator and planetarium demonstrator. Weyer is at the heart of the debate because PSC officials want to classify him as a manager. If they succeed, they'd cut his chances of participating in a collective-bargaining unit.

The nonprofit clearly doesn't want a union meddling with its mission. Weeks before any reporters came around asking questions, PSC had an official statement ready. "[We] believe that unionization is neither necessary nor beneficial for our employees," the statement reads. PSC believes it can "best communicate directly" with employees "without the presence of an outside intermediary."

After six long days of testimony and arguments, the union and PSC wrapped up their cases last week. The NLRB will probably reach a decision sometime in the next two or three weeks.

phil@thestranger.com