Representatives of the Pacific Northwest Regional Council of Carpenters march outside the Multnomah Athletic Club in Portland Wednesday in protest of work being performed there by R&H Construction. According to union representative Ben Basom, the group is focusing on R&H because the company “doesn’t meet area labor standards on all their projects. Anywhere they have work being performed, we are out with some sort of public information campaign.”

John Ward, president of R&H Construction, responded to the union’s grievances, saying, “Obviously, they have something that they are very passionate about and they have decided that our company doesn’t do something they believe in. We are an open shop contractor that pay people great wages and full benefits, some just under what the unions pay and some more. We’ve got a full workforce that has been with us for an average of 12 years, some over 20. They choose to show their beliefs in a way that I don’t necessarily agree with, and they have every right to do so.”