PALMDALE : Deputies Arrest 21 Drywall Workers
Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies arrested 21 striking drywall workers Tuesday on suspicion of trespassing at a Palmdale construction site.
The workers were taken into custody about 7:25 a.m. at a site in the 39700 block of Milan Drive, Sgt. Robert Denham said. The strikers followed a delivery truck onto the site, where they allegedly threatened workers.
An unidentified guard at the construction site made citizen’s arrests at the scene and the drywall workers were later taken into sheriff’s custody, Denham said. No injuries were reported.
The arrests followed the latest in a series of demonstrations in the Antelope Valley by drywall workers, who install the plasterboard panels that form the interior of most modern buildings.
About 4,000 dry wallers and tapers in Los Angeles, Orange, Ventura, San Bernardino, Riverside and San Diego counties have been on strike, demanding local union representation and higher pay. Drywall work in the area is being done by non-union laborers and by workers represented by a union based in Northern California, industry sources say.
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