Posted by Ray Carr, a resident of the Danville neighborhood, on Jan 2, 2009 at 7:27 am

What a great and free country we live in! It gives the union the freedom and opportunity to express their views (w/ bullhorn & large rats) and it gives the employer the freedom to establsh his business' policies and to hire who he wants within the law.

Most importantly, prospective employees have the freedom to decide to either work or not work for this employer.

Maybe the construction firm ought to embrace the union like the auto industry has done over the decades; he'd then be eligible to get bailed out for selling low quality products that people don't want to purchase. That seems to be our new road to socialism.

Posted by Maxwell, a member of the San Ramon Valley High School community, on Jan 6, 2009 at 5:45 pm

Honestly, if one wishes to be part of a union, they can choose to work for an employer who uses union labor.

The company in question obviously pays adequate wages and provides good enough benefits to keep their employees, so I'm not sure why the union picketers are out there at all.

This doesn't affect your job (considering you have one, after spending your weekday mornings picketing OTHER people's job sites).

And on a side note, I'm very excited for Fresh and Easy to open, provided they ever get the construction done.

Posted by maurice, a resident of the Alamo neighborhood, on Jan 9, 2009 at 8:41 am

In this economy we are seeing the effects of a willing buyer and seller on price. When the unions realize, this, they meay decide to renegotiate their pay scales to the current market. The reason they are able to picket is, guess what? No union construction jobs available, except government contracts that the unions control through their bought an paid for politicians.