Orange County Choppers accused of hiring "scabs" [View All]

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.laborradio.org/node/6683

Orange County Choppers accused of hiring "scabs"

Orange County Choppers rose to fame on the heels of a successful Discovery Channel television show that documented the often dysfunctional family run business. Now the company is in the spotlight for a completely different reason as unions protest the companies use of non-union labor and inability to pay union wages while constructing a new world headquarters in Orange County New York. The Empire State Regional Council of Carpenters and Electrical Workers Local 363 are leading the protest. IBEW Local 363 business agent Sam Fratto posted a video earlier this month documenting why workers are so upset:

: Scab contractors that are undermining standards of the local workers. Contractors that get the job by paying the people less and the big shit millionaires, the Tuttles, they know this is happening. It is all about the money. Some people can’t get enough; they have to exploit the little guy. We want everyone to know that this is hurting Orange County.

On Saturday a rally attended by hundreds of union members was held outside of the Orange County Choppers retail store. The protest was disbursed when fans of the television show arrived to defend their idols. Many of the union members arrived on motorcycles and circled the area. They sported t-shirts that read “Shame on you Orange County Choppers.”