Housing Units Burned in Paper Mill Labor Strife

Hundreds of people burned temporary housing and overturned cars Saturday in a protest against the hiring of non-union construction labor at a Boise Cascade paper mill.

Gov. Rudy Perpich put the National Guard on alert for possible duty in the usually peaceful town on the Canadian border. But the crowd, estimated at 400 in the morning, dwindled by afternoon and city officials said the violence had ended.

Five people were treated and released at a local hospital, and 32 were arrested on charges of criminal damage to property and contempt of court, police dispatcher Florence Dilworth said.

The violence stemmed from Boise’s hiring of a non-union general contractor for a $535-million expansion at the paper mill, a move that sparked a wildcat strike by union members in July. Since then the company has been hit by sporadic violence, including arson that caused about $250,000 damage.

The protesters on Saturday pushed through a gate at a temporary housing complex being set up for construction workers and tore down part of the fence surrounding the camp.

Boise Cascade spokesman Bob Anderson said about 10 mobile homes in the camp were destroyed. He estimated that the facility, intended to eventually house about 1,000 people and include a cafeteria, was 60% destroyed.

The 100 workers already living there were removed Friday night in anticipation of trouble, and work at the project was canceled for Saturday, Anderson said.

“It was non-union and racially motivated,” Anderson said. “ . . . It’s been building trades activists that are just acting as terrorists.”

Anderson said a black family was threatened Saturday and the company moved them inside the plant for protection. Police were previously called to a Mexican-American family’s home after an arson threat, he said.

He said there had been complaints that the company was hiring only blacks and Latinos.

Police Chief Tom Hardy said officers used tear gas to turn back the crowd Saturday and witnesses said protesters threw rocks at security guards. A police dispatcher said several vehicles were overturned at the camp.