I made a run to the Undergraduate Library today, and saw that Union roofers are still picketing David Kinley Hall, just South of the Library. There were several of them there, standing with large signs explaining the reasons for their presence.

I spoke with two picketers briefly, and found they were extremely disturbed and, I think, somewhat anxious about what has been going on re the Roof work on DKH. One of them told me that he had never heard of the University contracting non-union labor to do maintenance work before. He'd thought that the University had been legally required to use union contractors.

Now he's observed the University firing its union O&M workers and contracting out, for the first time in memory, to non-union construction firms. The two men I spoke with seemed seriously concerned that the UI was embarking on a long-term strategy of reducing its use of unionized labor.