ANAHEIM : Pickets Halt Work on Sports Arena

Picketing union glass workers shut down construction Thursday on the $103-million Anaheim sports arena, a project official said.

About half a dozen representatives of Glaziers Local 636 of Los Angeles kept about 280 workers from their jobs, protesting builder HuntCor Inc.’s use of non-union labor for the installation of glass walls for the arena’s facade, said H.R. Phipps, the company’s project manager.

“We lost the whole day,” Phipps said. “Ninety-five percent of our workers are union guys, and they won’t cross a picket line.”

The shutdown, however, is not expected to significantly delay the construction timetable, which Phipps said is running about three to four weeks ahead of schedule.

Anaheim police said that no arrests were made and that there were no reports of injuries.

Phipps said the pickets arrived about 5:30 a.m. Thursday at the arena site on Katella Avenue and Douglass Road and were gone by 10 a.m.

The picketing interrupted installation of glass walls on the building front and corners, Phipps said.

Union officials confirmed that their members manned the picket line but were not available for further comment.

City Manager James D. Ruth said the arena is scheduled to open next May.