My folks moved to Downingtown, PA about 35 miles west of Philadelphia when I graduated from high school in 1969 and I spent my college summers with them. During my last summer with them (1972) a huge labor dispute erupted between unions and the James Leon Altemose construction company.
Wiki --> Altemose owned and headed the non-union development and construction company and believed that employees should have the right to choose if they wanted to belong to a trade union. Altemose wanted to employ at least a portion of trade employees as non-union. The unions thought otherwise.That was the first time I ever encountered unions (that I recall) and, although I was not personally involved, I remember the violence and arson that summer very clearly (it was front page news in the papers). It was only a couple years later I encountered the union problems in Washington and Arizona.A thousand construction workers arrived at his Valley Forge, PA construction site at dawn on June 5, 1972 in cars and buses chartered by Roofers Local Union No. 30. More than $300,000 of property damaged occurred, including firebombing of equipment and construction trailers. Fire trucks were not allowed to respond because of the chaos at the site. The destruction would continue until midday when the state police arrived in riot gear. On August 17, 1972, Altemose was assaulted by two dozen men in downtown Philadelphia. The protests were estimated to have cost Altemose more than $2 million. They would delay, but not halt, the completion of construction as the hotel would eventually open in September 1973.
Altemose received the Award of Excellence in 1973 from Engineering News-Record for his work for the right of contractors to work open shop. The cover of the February 15, 1973 ENR magazine announcing the award showed Altemose and his armed bodyguard.
They can be nothing more than mafia like thugs with their behavior. I had a friend who was ex-military and worked for the Company in the 80’s. He left that type of work and decided to open a coal company in the mountains of eastern Kentucky, non union company. He came in one morning and the whole site was at a stand still. He had visitors from the local UMWA on site and they came in bullying the other employees and told them until they went union they were not working.
My friend looked at his people and said get back to work I’ll take care of this, now and they did. The union thugs started in with their threats on him personally. Having combat experience and 3rd world experiences he said you get off my worksite now. They made personal threats of things that would happen to him and he said get off this worksite and don’t ever set foot here again or they will carry you off and as far as your threats I have been shot at before and I shoot back. If I have to drive here and home shooting you SOB’s each way that is fine by me, please. They left and left him and his company alone. Pure thugs.