YOUNGSTOWN Magistrate to study injunction request

After acts of vandalism, the paving company halted work Oct. 9.
By PATRICIA MEADE
VINDICATOR CRIME REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- The question of whether to grant an injunction that would limit disruptive activity at a nonunion paving site on West Rayen Avenue rests in the hands of a magistrate.
Tuesday, Magistrate Eugene J. Fehr heard nearly 3 1/2 hours of testimony from witnesses in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.
Fehr took the matter under advisement, saying he wants to review the evidence and case law and have his decision considered by a judge.
It's possible that an interim order could be granted, he said.
A week ago, Youngstown attorney James S. Gentile filed a complaint on behalf of Cleveland Asphalt Inc. of Bessemer, Pa., a nonunion company. The complaint names Operating Engineers Local 66, Teamsters Local 377 and "John Doe Unions."
Cleveland Asphalt has a contract with the Ohio Department of Transportation for the paving of 2.8 miles along U.S. Route 422 and state Route 289 in the city. Work began Sept. 15 and stopped Oct. 9, after equipment left at the job site on West Rayen Avenue was vandalized.
Youngstown attorney Dennis Haines represented the Operating Engineers' and Teamsters' unions. After the testimony, he asked that the complaint be dismissed, saying no clear and convincing evidence showed the two unions were involved in the violence that occurred at the job site.
Interference
Fehr appeared to agree, saying he had no difficulty concluding there was interference with the paving but not that the interference was tied to the two local unions. He said police didn't control the situation and people in sympathy with unions interfered with the work.
Gentile said he and his clients have no animosity toward labor unions, which have a right to be at the job site and give their message. He said he only wants the court to provide a safe atmosphere for the pavers.
Witnesses for Cleveland Asphalt described disruptive crowds at the job site but were unable to identify any of the protesters. Only Dave Knickerbocker, business representative for the Operating Engineers union, was named as being present at the site, but no evidence linked him to violence.
Knickerbocker said he was at the job site Sept. 16 and 17, when work began, and on Oct. 7, when two pavers were arrested. He said he recognized only two union members Oct. 7 among the crowd that some witnesses estimated at 75.
Walter Romano of Bessemer serves as project manager for Cleveland Asphalt, a company owned by his wife. He testified that paving ceased when it became unsafe for the workers.
Romano said the damage to equipment included spikes thrown on the road to puncture tires, broken windows, sugar or salt put into fuel tanks and wires cut.
Suspicion
Haines said his suspicion is that Cleveland Asphalt, which got the contract April 15 but didn't begin work until Sept. 15, had labor problems and now, with the allegation of union interference, was able to get an extension of when the work must be done.
ODOT has said that, once work resumes, it would pay two off-duty city police officers to provide security at the job site. ODOT, mindful that cold weather affects asphalt, wants the work to be done soon.
Romano's son, Jeffrey, is the job foreman, and sons Michael and Thomas are laborers.
Michael Romano, 37, of Wampum, Pa., and Thomas, 33, of New Castle, Pa., are free on $4,500 bond, each charged with assault and criminal damaging. They are due in municipal court Oct. 31 for a pretrial.
The brothers are accused of beating Blaine Daugherty III of Willoughby Hills, who was videotaping the paving two weeks ago. Daugherty is a member of Laborers International Union of North America, based in Akron.
meade@vindy.com