Locked-Out Workers Picket West Berkeley Store

http://www.berkeleydaily.org/text/article.cfm?issue=08-14-07&storyID=27763

Locked-Out Workers Picket West Berkeley Store
By Judith Scherr


Charges and countercharges are flying between workers locked out by the owners of West Berkeley’s Metro Lighting.

The immediate question for the seven workers of the retail store and manufacturing plant at 2121 San Pablo Ave. was the cleaning of a drum containing allegedly hazardous materials.

Speaking for the workers, metal fabricator Gabe Wilson said cleaning the drum created hazards for others in the workshop and should have been done by a professional outside firm. As a consequence, the workers walked out.

They picketed the business last week and said they will be there again today (Tuesday).

“Powder can get into the air and cause chemical pneumonia and skin rashes,” Wilson told the Daily Planet on Monday.

The workers left the building and owners Lawrence Grown and Christa Rybczynski then locked them out.

FULL story at link.