Philly Inquirer - 3 union leaders arrested in A.C.

Robert McDevitt, president of Local 54 of the hotel and

restaurant employees union; Kevin Kline, a Las Vegas member of the local's

national affiliate, Unite Here; and Scott Cooper, also of Unite Here, were taken

into custody at New Jersey and Pacific Avenues, Atlantic City Police Chief

Arthur Snellbaker said.



Those were the only arrests during the rally, the third since talks

between the 10,000-member union first broke off on Oct. 1. On Thursday, talks

went on for 90 minutes before ending in a stalemate.

Yesterday, more than

10,000 people wearing union colors gathered at Pacific Avenue, outside the

Showboat Casino, to open the event. Union members from Pennsylvania, northern

New Jersey, Boston, New York, Las Vegas, and Baltimore marched for hours in

support of Local 54, a union that includes hostesses, food and beverage servers,

and housekeepers. The local and members of Unite Here have been walking the

picket line around-the-clock in protest of a contract offer that they say will

not put them on par with casino employees in Las Vegas.



Snellbaker said that a court order forbid the strikers from stepping

onto the streets and that he saw Kline and Cooper lead a line that was nearly

one mile long into Pacific Avenue, the city's second-most traveled roadway after

Atlantic Avenue.

"We made it clear that they were not supposed to leave the

sidewalks," Snellbaker said. "I told Mr. Kline I would hold him personally

responsible if that happened and arrest him."



Kline, McDevitt and Cooper were charged with criminal contempt of

court, Snellbaker said.

Police closed Pacific Avenue for about two hours as

strikers walked the street, Snellbaker said. Angry motorists honked their horns

and shouted as strikers walked by.

You know, i could have sworn the "angry motorists" were supporting the strikers. Gotta love the Philadelphia Inquirer.