In a show of solidarity, a local AFL-CIO union group is standing behind an Arroyo Grande business and asking the public to ignore a banner campaign by the Carpenters union and patronize the shop.

To support Doc Burnstein’s Ice Cream Lab, the Tri-Counties Building and Construction Trades Council will buy ice cream for anyone coming to the business at 114 W. Branch St. between 1 and 6 p.m. Friday, Feb. 26.

Council officials also criticized what they call a “rogue” union for the tactics it has employed against Doc Burnstein’s and other businesses, including KT’s All-Star Gymnastics, Community Bank of Santa Maria and the now-closed Circuit City store, all in Santa Maria.

Steven Weiner, executive secretary for the Trades Council, contacted Doc Burnstein’s owners to show support after learning about the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America Local 150 protest in front of the business since October 2009.

“We want the public to know what the unions really stand for and not be associated with this tactic being employed by the Carpenters union,” Weiner said.

He noted the Tri-Counties Building and Construction Trades Council represents 30 trade unions in the area and has quietly voiced its opposition to the tactics used by the Carpenters union for years. 

Over the years, the Carpenters union has disassociated itself from the Trades Council and the AFL-CIO.

“Since the Carpenters no longer sit at the council with the rest of the trade unions, they no longer have to explain themselves or seek sanction for picketing or leafleting activity as the other trades do,” said Dave Baldwin of Cement Masons Local 600.

“While the Carpenters may believe their ‘rogue’ union status has benefits, such as no longer paying membership dues to the Building Trades, they also lose much of the bargaining strength that is a foundation of trade unionism.

“Additionally, the Carpenters’ outright raiding of craftwork traditionally performed by members of the various recognized trade unions has seriously damaged the relationships that are key to the success of the labor movement as a whole,” he continued.

“Painters, Cement Masons and Plasterers (unions) have all been targets of the Carpenters’ move towards claiming jurisdiction over work processes that they have no tradition of performing, an act that throughout America’s trade union history has been considered unthinkable.”

Doc Burnstein’s founder Greg Steinberger said he is not anti-union but hasn’t found any remedy to the demonstration outside his business.

“So when the Trades Council wanted to buy ice cream for the community, I felt it should also be a chance to showcase the career options that responsible unions offer,” Steinberger said.

So at the ice cream parlor Feb. 26, members of the Trades Council will talk to the public about training and apprenticeship programs with the unions, including career fair types of displays.

He said a special effort will be made to reach local high school students to invite them to learn about careers in the construction trades while enjoying free ice cream compliments of the Trades Council.

People hired by the United Brotherhood of Carpenters Local 150 of Camarillo have been holding a banner outside Doc Burnstein’s Ice Cream Lab on the belief the Arroyo Grande business hired a nonunion contractor to build out its space in the Santa Maria Town Center, a job the union wanted.

However, Doc Burnstein’s is not paying for the drywall work; it is paid for by the mall.

Carpenters Union officials have not returned repeated phone calls from Doc Burnstein’s or the Santa Maria Times.

Steinberger said the National Labor Relations Board, which oversees union activities, believes the protest in Arroyo Grande violates the National Labor Relations Act by being actions against a third party.

He filed charges against the union with the NLRB, but those charges are awaiting final review by the board.

An attorney for the NLRB told the Santa Maria Times that similar charges have been filed against the Carpenters union by other businesses, and some of those charges have been awaiting a decision by the board for more than two years.