(Iowa) Crane operator says he was fired for not crossing picket line

[cyberswede]

I drive past these picketers every morning and wave or give 'em a thumbs up. The comments to the article are awful, of course. Why can't people realize that unions are GOOD and that they should start/join one themselves? How do we make a dent in the anti-union memes that appear to be everywhere? *sigh*

Crane operator says he was fired for not crossing picket line

A union crane operator says he was fired from a major University of Iowa construction project after he refused to cross a picket line that was formed to protest the general contractor's decision to use some out-of-state workers on the job.

Russell Werner, 44, of Waterloo, said he had worked on the Pappajohn Biomedical Discovery Building hauling supplies to workers for months operating a crane for a subcontractor. He said he joined other union workers last month for a picket protesting decisions by the general contractor, Walsh Construction of Chicago, to hire some subcontractors who were using low-wage, out-of-state employees.

Werner said he refused to cross the picket line and missed roughly a week of work as a result. But he said he was surprised he was fired before the contractor opened separate entrances to the site for union and non-union employees, which he said would have allowed him to return to work without crossing the picket line.

http://www.press-citizen.com/article/20110707/NEWS01/110707010/Crane-operator-says-he-was-fired-for-not-crossing-picket-line?odyssey=tab

[sakabatou]

1. Ugh...

[Blue Owl]

2. Just let one of Scott Focker's prison inmates run the crane?

Who needs unions when our prisons are overflowing with GOP-approved slave labor?

:sarcasm: