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Alex Cabrero Reporting Americans cherish the right to free speech, which includes the right to protest. But can a protest be the right thing to do, if it's not necessarily in the right area?
Many of us have seen protesters throughout Utah, especially in the Salt Lake Valley. It's the group holding those big red and white labor dispute signs, saying "shame on" a certain company. In one of their latest protests, though, you decide if it's right.
It's meant to get attention and it certainly works.
George Wright: "That worries me."
George Wright should be worried. He's the director of the Brighton Gardens retirement community in Salt Lake City, and it's not easy having labor dispute protesters outside his front door.
George Wright, Brighton Gardens: "We have a good reputation, and this is like damage to our reputation that the public thinks we're having a labor dispute, which we are not."
Wright is especially upset at fliers the protesters have been handing out. It says, "Shame on Sunrise Senior living for desecration of the American way of life." It even has his name on it.
George Wright: "It is very upsetting."
The protesters are upset at Brighton Gardens' parent company, Sunrise Senior Living of Virginia, for using a non-union company to do drywall work. Here's the thing though, the contractor Sunrise Senior Living hired then hired a sub-contractor to do the work. And the work is actually being done at a yet-to-be-built site in Holladay. Brighton Gardens really has nothing to do with it.
Letha Gayler: "That is not fair."
Letha Gayler has lived there for two years. She thinks the protesters can do what they want, but they should do it where the dispute actually is.
Letha Gayler, Lives in Brighten Gardens: "It doesn't seem fair for the place here. They should be someplace where they don't like."
George Wright: "I understand that the carpenters local has a right to protest, but they have a misconception that Sunrise Senior Living has something to do with the sub-contracting, and they do not."
We left a message with the Carpenters Local 1507, and with their national organization, to get their side of the story. So far, our calls have not been returned. We asked those holding the signs if they were part of the union, but they wouldn't talk to us.
