Union workers kick off shoes at Leg. Hall

A group of Delaware building trade workers gathered on Legislative Mall in Dover Jan. 26 and asked legislators to take a walk in their shoes, which have spent a lot of time in the unemployment line lately.

More than 200 construction workers, pipefitters, painters, carpenters and other union members brought old pairs of shoes to the doorstep of Legislative Hall and asked their elected representatives to do more to spur job growth in the state.

At the climax of the two-hour demonstration, the picketers tossed their shoes at the building and crowded the entrance chanting, “We need jobs.”

Capitol police called in reinforcements from the State Police and the Dover Police Department to keep order, but the crowd moved back across the street to the mall without any trouble.

Since the collapse of the economy, construction projects have stalled statewide, leaving scores of tradesmen without a place to earn a living.

“We need jobs, construction workers are working sometimes two, maybe three days a week and we’re starving.” said Wilmington resident Robert DiClemente, a member of the laborers union.

DiClemente said he’s fortunate to be working, but his assignments have been “spotty.”

Other workers at the demonstration said they’ve been out of work since the fall, and there’s no indication that things are getting better.

Harry Gravell, president of the Delaware Building and Construction Trades Council, said it’s time for the state legislature to give the green light to projects that will put his fellow workers back to work.

“I support jobs, period. If it’s a casino, good. I don’t care,” he said. “We’ve been out of work too long.”

For some interested parties, the rally was a perfect opportunity to promote plans for new casinos in Delaware — a contentious issue that’s stalled in the legislature for the time being.

Standing on the edge of the crowd of workers was developer Preston Schell, who is waiting for the OK to build his Del Pointe casino resort project in Millsboro.

Schell’s associates passed out signs to demonstrators and even provided a megaphone for speakers to address the crowd, emblazoned with “Del Pointe Now” stickers.

But the developer said he had nothing to do with organizing the event, he was just there to show his support.

“It’s about getting people back to work in a time they need it most,” he said.

Several Democratic legislators attended the rally and two spoke to the crowd, including Rep. John Kowalko, D-Newark South, and House Majority Leader Rep. Pete Schwartzkopf, D-Rehoboth Beach.

Kowalko is a longtime union supporter and used to work at the Delaware City oil refinery, but Schwartzkopf’s home district is not generally known as a hotbed of organized labor.

The majority leader said he was there to tout the Del Pointe project and a bill he's authored that would authorize a lottery license for the facility.

“We have the means to vote on a bill that will create thousands of jobs in our state,” he said. “We have an opportunity.”

The demonstration also featured a surprise visit from Gov. Jack Markell, who grabbed a megaphone and climbed onto the bumper of a State Police SUV to speak to the crowd.

Markell said he is working hard to bring more skilled labor jobs to Delaware.

When he stopped to address the workers, the governor was on his way to a meeting with executives from a company that is considering bringing an electric car manufacturing line to the state.

“We’re trying to reach arm and arm [with businesses],” he said. “This is a two way street, we’ve got to do everything we can to get companies to locate here.”