Prometheus 6   

Labor confrontations on the rise
Union, nonunion ironworkers seen competing for jobs

By Farah Stockman, Globe Staff, 8/13/2003

Some charge it was the kind of broad-daylight construction site violence that Boston hasn't seen in decades: About 40 men -- some with Ironworkers Local 7 logos on their hard hats -- allegedly slashed tires, smashed windshields, and threatened the nonunion workers.

"One guy told us, `Why don't you go home? This is our jurisdiction, you [expletive] scabs,' " said Michael Furia, a nonunion ironworker who said he witnessed the alleged attack.

Ajax Construction, the nonunion steel erector whose workers were allegedly attacked, has filed charges with the National Labor Relations Board against Local 7, one of Boston's most powerful and politically connected unions. From arrests of union business agents for trespassing on nonunion construction sites, to alleged acts of vandalism, to the rise in charges filed at the labor relations board, confrontations between the union and nonunion companies have climbed in the past two years, both union and nonunion workers say.