The issues of the strike are nonpayment for overtime worked, arbitrary reduction in wages, deduction of insurance premiums without providing benefits, and failure to provide adequate safety training and equipment. The workers are being represented by the Rocky Mountain Regional Council of Carpenters. The Salt Lake Tribune called the strike "the latest battleground for Utah's burgeoning union movement."

The strikers have maintained daily pickets at the massive Gateway Construction project, a complex of apartments and businesses scheduled to be ready in time for the 2002 Winter Olympics here. On May 6, 57 workers received termination letters. Some 30 strikers have returned to work.

At a fund-raiser for the strikers held at the Salt Lake Union Center on June 10, a striker who has worked for the company for more than four years told the Militant, "Many workers had their wages cut to $5.15 an hour, after having been promised $9.00 when they were hired." When the foreman was asked why the workers were not being paid the full amount, he said that they didn't speak English, "so we don't have to." Company owner Chris Utley has accused workers of sabotaging equipment by leaving fireproofing material to harden in hoses.

Victor Bautista, an organizer for the carpenter's union, told this reporter that when he first met with Utley "he refused to negotiate with the union, denied all the charges, and said, 'I am going to call the INS.' I asked him, 'Why are you doing this?' and he said, 'They are illegal. They don't deserve to be paid the same,'" Bautista said. "This is not just about money. Sometimes you have to stand up for your rights," added Bautista. "We are going to prove this is not a country just for the people who speak English."

Utley has maintained that the workers were coerced into signing the union cards, and denies any wrongdoing. He was quoted in the May 1 Salt Lake Tribune as saying that some workers had been "wasting" respirators, using five or six a day, and he clamped down on how many they can use. Under the impact of the walkout, however, the company has been forced to make some concessions. Utley told the Deseret News in an interview on June 8, "The company commissioned an internal audit of the company's insurance benefits system and payroll records," and will work to resolve disputes in a timely manner.

The strike has received a large amount of press coverage in the Salt Lake area. The carpenter's union has received support from other locals, including Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical and Energy Workers International Union Local 8-578 at the Phillips refinery in Woods Cross, Utah.

The union has petitioned the National Labor Relations Board to be the negotiating representative for the workers, and expects a ruling next week.  
 
 
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