Anaheim Chief Wants Court Order to Quiet Drywallers : Labor dispute: Molloy complains that pickets are verbally abusing officers and disturbing residents during ongoing protest at neighborhood job site. Strikers say the police are ‘overreacting.’

Police officials are seeking a court order to quiet striking drywall workers who for more than a week have demonstrated outside a construction site, forcing the deployment of two police squads to keep peace in the small west side neighborhood.

Police Chief Joseph T. Molloy said Wednesday that he did not want to deny the workers’ right to protest but rather to end what he described as a continuous barrage of insults and taunts hurled at his officers by angry workers. Molloy said the constant picketing has also disrupted the surrounding community.

“They are blocking the streets and yelling and screaming obscenities at our officers,” the chief said. “We’re trying to be neutral in this thing, but they are doing things that don’t allow us to be neutral any more.”

The chief said he had asked City Atty. Jack L. White to pursue a temporary restraining order that would protect police from verbal abuse and maintain a more “peaceful” environment for residents who live near the construction site.

Capt. Randall Gaston said city officials were researching possible legal precedents for such an order Wednesday. He said the intent was to prevent excessive verbal abuse directed toward the officers and possibly limit the number of demonstrators allowed on the picket line.

Officials said they did not expect an order to filed in court until sometime today.

Meanwhile, attorneys for drywall workers on Wednesday filed class action lawsuits in federal court in Los Angeles against four Southern California drywall companies and two taping companies in an attempt to collect unpaid overtime, said Steven J. Kaplan, an attorney with Gilbert & Sackman in Los Angeles.

The suits, Kaplan said, claim that workers were routinely forced to work 50 to 60 hours a week without any overtime pay in violation of federal law.

Striking drywall workers have already filed complaints against their former employers under the Fair Labor Standards Act and have filed charges of unfair labor practices against developers and drywall contractors with the National Labor Relations Board.

The proposed city action in Anaheim comes as three more strikers were placed under citizens’ arrest Wednesday by construction workers who were allegedly spat upon by demonstrators. Tuesday, officers apprehended three others, including an official with the immigrant rights organization Hermandad Mexicana Nacional, for refusing to disperse.

Jay Lindsey, a spokesman for the organization which has helped to form pickets on the workers’ behalf, said the group was aware of the city’s plan for a court order. If successful, Lindsey said, it would pose “a potential setback” for the drywall workers’ movement.

Lindsey said there were plans to beef up the strikers’ presence outside the construction site today by placing more than 200 workers on the picket line, about 50 more than on previous days.

“The police are overreacting,” said Jesus Gomez, a 34-year-old striker. “We are not yelling at them. We are asking for fair treatment. They (police) have been tough with us.”

Molloy, however, said his officers have attempted to help mediate negotiations between strikers and construction officials at the site.

“We would rather not be there at all,” the chief said. “I’m sure the citizens would think we should have better things to do.”

Molloy said at least 40 to 50 officers from various police units have been assigned to the site each day.

“This is really beginning to stretch our resources,” the chief said. “Certainly they have a right to picket, but I don’t think they have a right to give our officers the finger or disrupt the peace. We’re there to bring some calm to a residential community.”

Police identified the three arrested Wednesday as Rogelio Carranza, 31, of Santa Ana; Martin Lopez, 23, of Anaheim; and Efren Hernandez, 32, of Bell Gardens. All three were arrested on suspicion of misdemeanor assault.