About forty members of the Carpenters Regional Council picketed the construction site of the future Wyndham Hotel yesterday morning, protesting the firing of three union members by C&O Construction.
A construction executive admitted that they had been “taken by surprise” by the union protest and that construction was delayed until the police arrived. A number of construction workers refused to cross the picket line while a large concrete shipment was being delivered. “They plan these disturbances strategically,” he said.
The dispute was the result of the March 11 firing of three carpenters. The three had identified themselves as union members 3 days before the firing. Union officials and the president of the construction company differed on the reasons for the firing.
According to George Eisner of Carpenters Regional, the men were fired because they were union members. Two of the three men, Lester Smith, and Donald Vitek, had been given raises less than two weeks before being discharged.
The President of C&O Construction…