Union Protests Walgreens Construction with Rat

WILDWOOD — There’s a protest going on at the site of the former Park Place Entertainment Center at the corner of Park and Hand avenues, next to the McDonalds on Rio Grande Avenue.
The protest doesn’t involve the loss of a landmark miniature golf course, but rather the loss of local jobs.
The protest includes workers with picket signs, a giant inflatable rat and a coffin symbolizing the death of local jobs.
Andrew Bulakowski, of the local carpenters union, told the Herald that Walgreens officials decided to go with the cheapest non-union bid for the Wildwood project.
“We’d have loved to see it be a union project. We reached out to Walgreens several times,” Bulakowski said. “But it didn’t work out.”
Not only are the workers non-union, but they are also not local, Bulakowski said.
“Even though they decided not to use union labor,” he continued. “The least they could have done was hire local workers. The same people whose families would be shopping in the store.”
Bulakowski noted that the carpenters in his office at 4500 Atlantic Ave. are local workers who contribute to local taxes, local charity and the local economy.
“We’re not only standing for the rights of union workers, but also the American way,” Bulakowski said.
The union has been picketing the project for a week and a half and will continue the protest throughout construction, Bulakowski said.
This is the second time the site has met controversy. When the Herald reported in October 2008 that bulldozers and backhoes were knocking down the Shipwreck mini golf, many local residents and visitors commented negatively on the story.
The Wildwood Zoning board approved the project in 2007. According to the principles in the project, the new Walgreens will be the only store in the country, out of 4500, to be doo-wop themed and designed.
Contact Hart at (609) 886-8600 Ext 35 or at: jhart@cmcherald.com