BY Oren Yaniv
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Friday, March 5th 2010, 9:15 AM
A ghoulish union protest in lower Manhattan has gone from bad to corpse.
Some local residents were already upset that a coffin was being used as a prop to rally against a nonunion asbestos abatement firm at 176 Broadway in lower Manhattan. Then they noticed a macabre addition: a fake body inside.
"I'm disgusted by it," said a woman who lives in the building and gave her name as Cathy. "The mannequin is taking it way too far."
She said children were already freaked out by the coffin, which has been sitting there for over a month.
A union organizer said Thursday that the "body," wearing a hardhat and gas mask, had been in the box all along, but was revealed only Wednesday after the weather improved.
Asbestos, Lead & Hazardous Waste Laborers' Local 78 is using the display to protest the use of Landmark Consultants, a contractor they accuse of disregarding workers. Landmark's owner could not be reached for comment.
Gary Epstein, 50, a UPS worker, liked the idea, comparing the shock tactic to anti-smoking campaigns.
"Asbestos kills people and they should remove it the right way," he said. "It makes you think."
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/03/05/2010-03-05_stiff_opposition_to_union_protest.html?print=1&page=all#ixzz0hJX5WPr1
