With shouts of, "We'll be back!", a carpenters union is picketing the construction of a Troy shopping center.
The Michigan Regional Council of Carpenters started picketing Monday on Big Beaver Road because a non-union subcontractor is working on site that the union says is not paying the prevailing wages and fringe benefits for the area.
Damien Nelson, an officer with the Residential Carpenters Local 1234 based in Warren, said the site just east of Alpine Drive is nearby several supportive businesses.
"We've had a lot of people coming by to tell us how they support us. The owner of the restaurant across the street came over to give us some water and told us he supported it," Nelson said. "They're bringing the economy down."
"They" in this instance refers to BJ Construction, based in Clinton Township. BJ Construction did not return a phone call seeking comment.
"It's not necessarily about having the job being (given to a) union. It's about having an area standard set. The union wants to work here, but we want a fair wage for a hard day's work, including benefits ... the people that are working there are there for their own reasons," Nelson said.
About 20 local carpenters were on the line at lunch time on Tuesday, carrying yellow signs and chanting their intentions to stay for "as long as it takes."
"We've got a right to be here and we will be, for as long as it takes," Nelson said.
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