BREA : Drivers, Strikers Skirmish at Plant

Truck drivers scuffled with picketers Monday outside a Gypsum Canyon pavement-products company after the strikers were accused of damaging trucks.

Brea police and county sheriff’s deputies were called to Owl Rock Products Co. at 1:30 p.m. after two men began fighting outside the plant. No one was injured or arrested, Sheriff’s Lt. Richard J. Olson said.

Company president Calvin B. Allen said picketers with the Operating Engineers Local 12 have been harassing truckers crossing into the plant by throwing pieces of metal in front of the trucks, puncturing some tires.

Union leaders could not be reached for comment Monday.

Four truck drivers not employed by Owl Rock Products began the fight after their trucks were damaged as they drove into the plant, Allen said.

“These guys (truckers) got damned tired of it, and they went at them,” he said. “They gave the picketers a little working over.”

The union, which represents heavy-equipment operators, has been striking Arcadia-based Owl Rock Products for two months because the company has been hiring non-union specialists for some jobs, Allen said.

Sheriff’s deputies have been called to the plant several times since the strike began Sept. 29, Olson said.