Picketers Keep Workers From Entering Development : Labor: Drywall installers lie down to block project in Aliso Viejo. Protesters seek a wage hike and a union.
Picketers prevented a busload of construction workers from entering a housing development Monday morning as part of a continuing protest they hope will result in a new union.
About 100 drywall installers lay down on Canyon Wren Lane, blocking the entrance to the 156-unit Seaway Collection development, as the bus arrived at about 8 a.m., Sheriff’s Lt. Larry Abbott said. The group on the chartered bus, carrying about 30 men hired by Champion Dry Wall Inc. of Anaheim, tried twice to enter the development and then left, canceling work for the day, Champion Vice President Marvin Derrick said.
No one was arrested during the protest, which continued throughout the day. About eight sheriff’s deputies as well as several people from a private security firm hired by Kathryn Thompson Development Co. were at the site to keep the picketers off private property.
Monday’s protest was the latest in a series of job actions by drywall installers over the past three weeks at housing construction sites in Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego counties. Hundreds of drywall installers have been meeting at carpenters’ union halls throughout the area to organize pickets and encourage workers to walk off the job.
Champion pays drywall installers 6 1/2 cents per square foot, which averages about $300 a week, Derrick said. The workers want wages of at least 8 cents, as well as medical benefits, according to spokesmen Bernardo Segura and Jesus Gomez.
“I just want something better for these kids,” Segura said, pointing to the picture of his four children on his T-shirt. “We’ll picket, if necessary, every day.”
Although Monday’s action was peaceful, officials said protesters have harassed workers and damaged property during other visits to Seaway Collection. Derrick said his drywall installers have had tires slashed and received threatening phone calls, and Kathryn Thompson President Michael Rafferty said there has been about $3,000 worth of damage to the property.
On Saturday, Rafferty said, several men climbed over a wall and kicked in new drywalls in the development. One man was arrested on suspicion of trespassing at the site.
“They’re acting like a bunch of thugs and that’s not right,” Rafferty said of the weekend incident. “We’re just trying to get our houses to the market.”
