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Complaint lodged against ?Shame On? demonstrators(Bakersfield Californian, The (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Apr. 22--The union responsible for a series of protests outside local businesses has been accused of harassing construction workers and assaulting a man at a February demonstration near California Avenue and Mohawk Street. The Central California chapter of Associated Builders and Contractors Inc. announced Monday that it leveled the charges in a complaint filed Thursday with the National Labor Relations Board. Representatives of the union against which the trade association filed the charge, Local 1506 of the Los Angeles-based Southwest Regional Council of Carpenters, could not be reached for comment Monday. The complaint focuses on alleged actions of two union representatives at a Feb. 24 protest at Santa Barbara Business College, 5300 California Ave. The association's government affairs director, Kevin Korenthal, said the two union representatives walked onto college property and "got agitated" after speaking with workers from two local construction companies performing interior improvements at the site. "They began to kick around things that were sitting on the ground, such as buckets and tools," Korenthal said. Soon the college's facilities manager -- who could not be reached Monday -- became involved in a "verbal altercation" with the union representatives, who Korenthal said pushed the man to the ground. "He was not hurt, but he was very shaken up by the incident," Korenthal said. Members of the union have staged various demonstrations at businesses and other locations around Bakersfield. The events, which typically feature people holding up "Shame on" banners, are aimed at pressuring local construction companies to pay higher wages to their workers. To see more of The Bakersfield Californian, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.bakersfield.com. Copyright (c) 2008, The Bakersfield Californian Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |