Carpenters Take Fight for Fair Wages to Gravois

The Carpenters' District Council of Greater St. Louis and Vicinity is campagning for better wages and benefits in front of Southside Guns & Ammo on Gravois Road.

"We'd like a resolution, and maybe we get one and maybe we don't," said Scott Byrne, a representitive for the council. Byrne said the store is building a firing range where Gravois Road splits off to Seibert Ave.

Demonstrators handed out flyers to passersby explaining their cause:

The Carpenters' District Council have been leaders in our community's...struggle for equal employment opprotunity and decent standard of living for all those wanting to enter the skill trades.

Receipt of a fair wage with good health insurace and pension benefits, such as those obtained by the Carpenters' District Council for our members, affords workers and their families an opprotunity to live and work in our wonderful community.

But it appears that Southside Guns & Ammo is not concerned about maintaining our community's wage and fringe benefit standards by contracting Kuehnle Construction to perform carpenter work on their store. Rather by retaining Kuehnle Construction, Southside Guns & Ammo unwittingly contributes to the erosion of those standards.

Friends, we need your help. Please let Southside Guns & Ammo know you disapprove of its retention of Kuehnle Construction who does not meet the area wage and fringe benefits standards on all work they perform in our communities.