This article explains why Walsh Construction recently pulled out of a contract to build a 40,000 square foot, Planned Parenthood building in Portland, Oregon. Bob Walsh explained that his employees were at risk from angry anti-abortion protesters.
I am shocked to find out that anti-abortion protesters would target people who have nothing to do with abortions. The people who work at Walsh Construction do not deserve to be targeted for simply doing their jobs. I was also appalled to learn that some of these protesters would actually follow construction workers home and threaten their families.
I feel that what Bob Walsh did was exactly right. It takes an ethically strong construction company to put the safety of their employees before any lucrative contract, no matter what the situation is. No project is worth employees being harassed and terrorized for things they have no control over. Anti-abortion protesters have no right to threaten anybody, much less the people who indirectly related to the issue.
Questions:
How do contractors decide if a project is too risky for their employees? What can they even do about controlling protesters and people who strongly oppose certain projects?
I find this article to be very interesting because I was not aware that anti-abortion protesters would take it to this extent. I can mildly understand trying to protest against the organization but harassing the constructions workers, who really have nothing to do with planned parenthood, is taking it way too far. I think that people need to realize that these are separate entities and it is just another safety precaution that construction workers have to take into consideration, while their job is already risky at times.
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