A carpenters union in Denver is hiring day laborers to picket outside merit shop jobsites, according to the Denver Post. The Mountain West Regional Council of Carpenters uses the lunchtime rallies, which have been going on for more than a year, to draw attention to non-union work being done at downtown Denver buildings.
The carpenters union had experienced trouble staffing its “almost daily informational pickets” due to the abundance of construction projects in the city. Because of this, the MWRCC pays “down-on-their-luck laborers” and homeless individuals from a Hispanic day labor center $10 per hour to march at jobsites.
As an example, the Post cited a 30-person picket march outside its downtown building last week. Only four participants were rank-and-file union members.
