Southern Hills Granted TRO

[guido911]

From the Tulsa World:

Southern Hills Country Club on Friday was granted a temporary restraining order against a union that the country club says will disrupt the 2009 U.S Amateur Championship.

Court documents show Southern Hills is accusing the Arkansas Regional Council of Carpenters of organizing about 30 protesters near the golf course Friday to use "loud chants and cheers" and to encourage passing motorists to honk their horns in support of workers' rights.

http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=11&articleid=20090822_298_0_Southe64574

I am sick of these phony protests

[nathanm]

From the Tulsa World:

http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=11&articleid=20090822_298_0_Southe64574

I am sick of these phony protests

You must have been retching at the sight of the teabaggers, then.

(My only issue is how free speech is perfectly allowable for some groups, but not others)

[Red Arrow]

My only issue is how free speech is perfectly allowable for some groups, but not others.

I agree with you in principle but  the protest really should have something to do with the site and perhaps be reasonable.  Would you support a group protesting your choice of color for the trim on your house.  Say perhaps "they" thought you should have grey fake window shutters rather than tan.  I can see it now, "We protest tan shutters, get grey now."  Dozens of protesters walking the sidewalk in front of your house from 8AM to 5PM with an hour break for lunch. And maybe a smoke break half way through the AM and PM. 

Just asking.

[nathanm]

I agree with you in principle but  the protest really should have something to do with the site and perhaps be reasonable.  Would you support a group protesting your choice of color for the trim on your house.  Say perhaps "they" thought you should have grey fake window shutters rather than tan.  I can see it now, "We protest tan shutters, get grey now."  Dozens of protesters walking the sidewalk in front of your house from 8AM to 5PM with an hour break for lunch. And maybe a smoke break half way through the AM and PM. 

Just asking.

If they aren't blocking access to my home, being unreasonably loud, or being obscene, that is their right. It might be incredibly annoying, but I should have no legal recourse to stop them.

Of course I'd prefer them to not be there, especially if I were running a business, but that's the price of freedom of speech.

[shadows]

I would assume that the pickets as long as they were on a public sidewalk and moving, not loitering or interfering with normal sidewalk traffic, they have a right to carry signs under expression of free speech.   The secondary cause on which the pickets are protesting would leave doubt as to whether it could be abusing the freedom of speech or not.  I am sure that a precedent has been set elsewhere before the action of picketing began.     

[buckeye]

I have no problem with protests, but I do have a problem with whiners that didn't win the bid parading their 'grievances' under the guise of Blue Collar Struggle (tm).

[rwarn17588]

I agree with you in principle but  the protest really should have something to do with the site and perhaps be reasonable.  Would you support a group protesting your choice of color for the trim on your house.  Say perhaps "they" thought you should have grey fake window shutters rather than tan.  I can see it now, "We protest tan shutters, get grey now."  Dozens of protesters walking the sidewalk in front of your house from 8AM to 5PM with an hour break for lunch. And maybe a smoke break half way through the AM and PM. 

Just asking.

Yes.

Freedom of speech doesn't mean you have to be reasonable. You still have to obey laws regarding trespassing, traffic, harassment, assault, disturbing the peace, etc.

But there's nothing in the Constitution that prohibits "unreasonable" speech. And for good reason -- that's a mighty vague criteria. That's a recipe for all sorts of abuse.

Frankly, I'm surprised that the judge granted the injunction; an appeals court would strike it down in a hurry, unless the injunction deals with some aspect of the law I'm overlooking.

[cannon_fodder]

rwarn:

Free speech is a two way street.  You are free to say whatever you want to.  I'm free to hold you accountable for it and tell you to take a hike when what you are saying isn't really true.

If you "protest me" for "unfair labor practices" and it turns out you are a bum hired by a competitor attempting to cost me business or otherwise force me to run a business in such a way as to make your company profit, it would seem that isn't really a protest.  It is commercial speech masquerading as a protest.   It isn't the laborers of the company protesting, it's the competition.   Clearly they are trying to mislead people into believing there is a real "labor dispute".

The intent is to intimidate future job prospects away from doing business with Green Country Interiors.  If UBC Bank, the Mayo, Southern Hills, or the University of Tulsa or whomever else hired Green Country gets protested . . . then I'll get protested if I hire my contractor of choice.  It's a damn marketing ploy using intimidation. 

Hence, "LABOR DISPUTE" is an entirely inaccurate statement.  The "protesters" are the hired labor of the competition (be it homeless people or union carpenters).  They are out doing their job of harassing Green Country Interiors because they do things efficiently, quickly, and with such high quality that the out of state company can not compete.  Generally, it is against the law to hire someone for the purposes of harassing another and this is no different.

These "protests" mock every actual labor struggle that goes on.   When the workers of Green Country Interior strike because labor conditions are harsh, management screwed them, or safety conditions are atrocious I'll be bringing them coffee.   When bums are hired to drum up business for a competitors I'll keep calling BS.

[RecycleMichael]

Golf tourism has been good for Tulsa. These protestors wanted to ruin it.

Self-centered bastards.

[guido911]

Golf tourism has been good for Tulsa. These protestors wanted to ruin it.

Self-centered bastards.

These protestors attention whores wanted to ruin it.

Small fix

[Wilbur]

I'll hope the union has hired unionized homeless for the protest, less they look like fools.

[FOTD]

These protestors attention whores wanted to ruin it.

Small fix

These protestors attention whores $10/day homeless union puppets wanted to ruin it embarrass Tulsa.

Smaller fix

[FOTD]

These protestors attention whores wanted to ruin it.

Small fix

Isn't it ironic how posters get their feathers ruffled by this form of protest but are not upset by intimidation methods condoned by their own politicians.

[cannon_fodder]

Also worth noting:

Green Country Interiors pays from $14 - $25 an hour to its carpenters.   When asked what a "fair wage" was the Arkansas Carpenters Union refuses to release any numbers.   

- Unfair wages!

Really?  What counts as a fair wage?

- None of your damn business!

Do they make more than you do ?

- Shut up!  That isn't important to our protest.  They aren't being fair!

How so?

- Get the rats out!


Dumbest. Protest.  Ever.  Between the homeless as picketers, refusing to talk about what fair wages are, and picketing random businesses that hire their competition or places where their competition goes golfing -  there is no merit to these protests at all.  Has this gained them anything but animosity?

[sgrizzle]

See page #3 for "their side"
http://www.procarpenters.org/files/ARCC_newsltr_FALL2008_FINAL_1_.pdf

P.S. It looks like the Union and Southern Hills have reached a settlement.