CHP threatens to arrest union marchers on I-15

Lynn Waddell

Thursday, Jan. 29, 1998 | 12:07 p.m.

They didn't want this kind of attention.

Union members striking the Frontier Hotel are walking to Los Angeles to cast light on what they call unfair labor practices, but they risk being arrested along Interstate 15 when they get into California.

The 12 strikers and two union representatives making the 300-mile trek from Las Vegas to just outside LA may be stopped from walking along the highway, a California Highway Patrol officer said Sunday.

Officers worry the marchers, who were in Jean this morning, will distract interstate drivers and cause accidents.

California law prohibits pedestrians within fenced freeway areas. In order to hold such a march, protesters must obtain a permit from the California Department of Transportation. The five unions participating in the march do not have such a permit.

Glen Arnodo, Culinary Union representative, said the unions are comfortable they will have permission to hike on the shoulders of the interstate by the time they reach the California border Tuesday.

"We think it will all be taken care of," Arnodo said. "Initially, they said we couldn't do it, but we've been talking to more people. After all, they did allow farm workers to do a similar protest."

Pedestrians along the freeway can be given a citation, and could be arrested if they do not leave the prohibited area, California patrol officers said.

Jim Arnold, Culinary secretary-treasurer, said this morning that marchers may have to take an alternate route anyway because of snowy weather. If the winter storm closes the interstate, the marchers may travel through Palm Springs. The same applies if they are prohibited by highway patrol, he said.

As the marchers began their long walk Saturday morning, they showed more concern about being stalled by injuries than authorities or snow.

"Our biggest concern is blisters," said Scott Mackenzie, a union representative who organized the march. "Everyone has moleskin on their feet to try to prevent them. If we can just stay dry, warm and keep down our blisters, the rest will be a piece of cake."

Arnold so far there have not been any serious injuries on the journey.

The 14 marchers, ages 29 through 59, were equipped with new hiking boots, jogging shoes and rain gear as they left under dismal Saturday skies.

Mike "Homer" Johnson, a striking carpenter, even was donning a Homer Simpson doll for moral support since the cartoon character works in a nonunion nuclear power plant.

"You know Homer would want to be in a union if he could," Johnson said. "He would want someone standing behind him."

Four members of the stagehands union saw marchers off with a 16-foot statue they built of Lady Liberty.

The Frontier does not employ any members of that union, but members were compelled to support the others, said Moshe Bialac, union television representative and special project coordinator.

"If this attitude continues, it will all fall apart at every hotel on the Strip," Bialac said. "In the end we will be like Laughlin without any unions, making minimum wage and living in trailers."

If all goes as planned, the strikers will march to Ontario and be driven to downtown Los Angeles the next day to walk to City Hall for a rally with California union representatives

There, they plan to not only protest the Frontier's action, but also urge support for an upcoming Senate bill that would require employers to rehire strikers after a strike ends.

The bill technically would prohibit permanent replacements of union members during a strike It would still allow businesses to hire temporary employees during a strike.

Diane Spence, one of the strikers making the 14-day journey, said the bill was as much a reason for the protest as the Frontier dispute.

"I'm fed up with the way the country treats workers," she said. "People shouldn't have to worry about their job when they go on strike."