An incident in Midtown Manhattan got ugly yesterday as union protesters were hit by a cement truck driven by a non-union worker on 8th Avenue. The two sides were scuffling until things took a turn for the worse. Fortunately police arrived before it anyone was seriously injured.
From The Daily News:
The seven arrested construction workers - a mix of union and nonunion laborers - were charged with disorderly conduct and obstructing governmental administration, authorities said.
More than 50 workers from Carpenters Local Union 608, Ironworkers Local Union 580, Laborers Local Union 79, and several other groups had gathered at the W. 48th St. site to protest the hiring of nonunion laborers.
"The owners want cheap labor at the expense of safety," said Local 79 member Daniel Fernandez, 46, of Staten Island. "We are trained ... and we do the safest work.
"We came here to get our jobs back, not have one of our own run over."
Its a shame to see anyone physically fighting over union/non-union work. I prefer to see it at an administrative level where a change in the workforce can happen. The construction company should never have had the 'scabs' in the first place and could have avoided the situation though. Fernandez, who was quoted above was right, things really weren't that safe on the job, when does one hear about union workers running over people with their trucks, even if it wasn't on purpose. What is wrong with these admins that hire them in the first place?
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