SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Teamsters pledged to shut down two Rolling Stones concerts this weekend at Pacific Bell Park if promoter Clear Channel Communications doesn't agree to use union workers.þþ``We've been having trouble with Clear Channel for years,'' said William Cromartie, president of Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 85. ``They want to bring in kids to work for $6 or $7 an hour and give them a T-shirt.''þþAbout 50 Teamsters picketed outside Pac Bell Park Monday as tractor-trailers began arriving to deliver equipment for the Friday and Saturday shows. At least three trucks turned around without making deliveries after Teamsters talked to the drivers.þþThe Teamsters say they should be unloading those trucks.þþInstead, Bill Graham Presents, San Francisco's largest concert promoter and a subsidiary of Clear Channel, will use its own nonunion workers.þþ``This is specifically a local dispute between Bill Graham Presents and the local Teamsters,'' said Howard Schacter, a spokesman for Clear Channel's entertainment division.þþBill Graham Presents said it's never had a relationship with the Teamsters.þþ``We have the expertise developed to do those jobs,'' said spokeswoman Sherry Wasserman. ``They are using this high-profile show to strong-arm us.''þ
Source: NY Times
