Union members picket at a company run by the Romano family

The company is seeking an injunction to limit the number of pickets.
By LAURE CIOFFI
VINDICATOR NEW CASTLE BUREAU
BESSEMER, Pa. -- It was a fairly tame demonstration compared to actions by the nearly 100 people who gathered in front of Cleveland Asphalt last year.
About 30 labor union members milled around in front of the company headquarters on East Poland Avenue on Wednesday morning, far more subdued than in November when there were bullhorns, people in rat costumes and a large blow-up rat.
The group disbanded around 10 a.m.
"We just want people in the area to know what kind of people ODOT [Ohio Department of Transportation] is hiring," said Thomas H. Warga, business manager for Local 125 of the Laborers' International Union of North America.
Warga was passing out papers with photocopies of a Vindicator story from October concerning brothers Michael Romano, 37, of Wampum and Thomas Romano, 33, of New Castle. Both were charged with attacking a union representative at a job site on Rayen Avenue in Youngstown. The brothers contend the man had a knife.
The man, Blaine Daughtery III of Willoughby Hills, Ohio, said he was videotaping the paving work when he was punched in the face.
Company's side
Walter Romano, president of Cleveland Asphalt, also known as Romano Paving, said the pickets were there to pressure the company to allow its workers to unionize.
"We are not interested in the union, and the people who are working here are not interested, but they keep at it," he said.
Warga said that was their first intention when union members started picketing Cleveland Asphalt, but they no longer want the company to become unionized.
"I think you can see these are people you wouldn't want to deal with on a daily basis. We want people to be aware of this [the charges against the brothers] when other contractors bid against them and we want them to see there is a difference," Warga said.
Warga said they intend to continue picketing the company but have no set dates.
Romano said he is still waiting for a court injunction that would limit the number of demonstrators in front of his building.
No decision has been handed down by Judge Ralph D. Pratt of Lawrence County Common Pleas Court. A two-day hearing was held in November on the company's request for restrictions on pickets.
On Wednesday, there were several Pennsylvania State Police troopers, Lawrence County sheriff's deputies and other police officers called to the building.
Romano said he is preparing to start paving work for ODOT this spring. His company has been awarded contracts to pave Ohio Routes 45, 46 and 226.
cioffi@vindy.com