Life on the full-time picket line

By KELLY NIX

Published: June 9, 2006

 

WHEN THE driver of a black Volvo speeds by, honks his horn, then makes an obscene gesture with his middle finger, the three picketers outside the SFB Morse Pebble Beach gate, to whom the message was directed, shrug it off.
 

“As long as they don’t get out of the car, we’re OK,” said Jehu, 23.
 

Jehu is one of more than a dozen people — most, if not all, from Mexico and Central America — hired by Carpenters Union Local 605 to protest DMC Construction Inc.’s policy of not paying government-set “prevailing wages” on private construction jobs.
 

From 7 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., the sign holders plant themselves in at least four Pacific Grove locations holding signs and banners with the words “DMC CONSTRUCTION INC. UNFAIR to WORKERS & the COMMUNITY.”
 

Although passersby might mistake them for disgruntled union workers demanding higher wages from their employer, the picketers are not union members nor carpenters. They are paid solely to picket.
 

“Many people have the mistaken impression that those are our employees out there,” said Andy Miller, commercial division manager for DMC. “When we tell them what is going on, their whole perspective changes. People have been misled.”
 

While holding up a sign all day is not a difficult job, the picketers, who range from teenage to middle age, have to stay on their feet most of the time and are exposed to the weather. Most wear hats to protect their faces.
 

On a sunny day in May in front of the Sally J. Griffin Senior Center in Pacific Grove, Brigid, who appears to be in her mid-40s, holds a large sign with another picketer, a man probably 20 years younger. Brigid, who is a hairstylist at night and on weekends, doesn’t mind picketing since it offers her time to practice what she really wants to do.
 

“I’m studying to become a evangelist,” she said through a Pine Cone interpreter.
 

Dressed as if going to church, she passes the time by reading “Sueña y Ganaras el Mundo” (Dream and You Will Win the World,) a religious book she bought at her church.
 

“It’s a really good book,” she said. “You should read it even if you are not a religious person.”
 

Using a pen in her left hand to mark passages in the book, she simultaneously supports the protest banner with her right.
 

“I’m used to standing,” she said.
 

‘I am not authorized to speak’
 

Brigid, like the other picketers, heard about the job through friends, most of whom live in Salinas. She, along with many picketers, are bused into Pacific Grove by the union every morning and picked up after work.
 

She declined to say how much the union paid her and whether she was paid in cash or by check. Instead, Brigid, who didn’t speak English, reached into her pocket and pulled out a strip of paper that read, “I am not authorized and have been told not to speak regarding this hand billing or picketing activity.”
 

Questions and comments were directed to Local 605 field representatives, who were contacted but declined to speak to The Pine Cone on record. Two other local union leaders also refused the request. They directed questions to two San Jose union leaders who did not return phone messages.
 

One picketer, who didn’t want to be identified, said they’re all paid just under $9 per hour and don’t receive benefits.
 

“They are paying them more than minimum wage,” Miller said. “But the union is paying them a lot less than what our carpenters make, and I’m sure a lot less than what the union pays their own carpenters. Still, if you do the math, the picketing is a significant investment for the union. You are talking more than $180,000 a year.”
 

DMC, which calls itself the “Monterey Peninsula’s leading building contractor,” pays its employees based on merit and skill, as opposed to the “prevailing wage.”
 

On Wednesday, six sign-holders stood outside the DMC office at 1219 Forest Ave. Although there have been a few run-ins with local union leaders and DMC employees, Miller said the picketers keep to themselves.
 

“They are very nice people making a living,” he said. “I have nothing against them. They are just trying to make a paycheck.”
 

Just down the road, Jehu, his brother Robelio, 21, and Sergio, 23, stake themselves outside the SFB Morse Pebble Beach gate five days a week.
 

With an AM/FM radio tuned to a Spanish station and a bottle of Aquafina water at his feet, Robelio, a recent immigrant to the United States, said he doesn’t mind the job.
 

“We have to lean into the radio because we can’t hear it because of the traffic noise,” he said.
 

A baseball hat keeps the sun out of his face, and a hooded sweatshirt keeps him warm when the fog rolls in. When his feet get tired, Robelio grasps the sign frame while sitting on a portion of the Highway 68 guard rail, which he pads with an old jacket.
 

A long walk for a break
 

The picketers get two breaks, one at 9:30 a.m. and at noon for lunch. Local 605 does not provide a portable toilet for the picketers. If the three have to use a restroom, they go about a quarter-mile to Safeway on Forest Avenue.
 

Sergio, who is originally from Michoacan, Mexico, used to work at Olive Garden in Salinas, where all three live.
 

“They paid more money,” he said. “When I’m done with this job, I might go back to work there.”
 

He sends a portion of his monthly income to his parents in Mexico.
 

Jehu has two children, a toddler and a 6-week old. His wife worked until a couple of months before the arrival of their newest baby. “They pay was OK,” he said. “But now with just one income it’s harder.”
 

Although the work is fine for now, Jehu and Sergio said they have similar, long-term goals.
 

“I want to work in construction,” Sergio said. “But I want to study English first because that’s very important.”
 

While many of the sign-holders didn’t know exactly what they were picketing for, they didn’t seem to care.
 

The union has targeted DMC for about one year. Before that, it went after two other local construction companies.
 

“We have been told it’s a two-year plan,” Miller said. “I’m not so sure all the union members know all this money is being spent toward that.”
 

Local 605 gained notoriety in 2005 by placing a giant inflatable rat, complete with fangs, in front of Robert Louis Stevenson Lower and Middle School, where DMC was working. Some parents expressed outrage at the stunt.
 

Pacific Grove Police Cmdr. Tom Uretsky said the police department hasn’t had any problems with the union-hired protesters.
 

“The majority of our complaints are from people who just don’t like picketers,” Uretsky said.
 

Despite the effort to discredit DMC, Miller said the union activity seems to have had no negative effect on the construction company.
 

“If anything, it has increased awareness of our company, and our business seems to be increasing,” he said. “Whether they are directly responsible, I can only guess.”

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