LEONARD GRAY / L’Observateur / May 24, 2000

GRAMERCY – Striking Kaiser steelworkers got an unexpected ally from out of the nearby marsh last week – a 10-foot alligator who “worked” the picket line on their behalf.

Sam Thomas of the United Steelworkers of America Local 5702 reported that a picket line crew was on duty May 18 at 3 a.m. on Airline Highway.Suddenly, according to Crew 2-B captain Jeff Roussel of Prairieville, “I heard a nose and he walked up to the gate, rested awhile and moved on.

“Roussel, who captured it all on videotape, remembered that the gator was a frequent observer of the goings-on since the strike began on Sept. 30,1998. This night Mr. Gator decided to make his own pro-union statement.

Thomas recalled: “Until this particular night the gator, which had been seen on many occasions by the picketers, had always appeared indifferent to the plight of the locked-out workers. But on this night, the gator, possessing theswagger of a cocky professional boxer and the undaunted determination of a locked-out steelworker, proudly walked up to the picket line and took up station.

“Thomas related the gator blocked the line of traffic for the court-prescribed 25 seconds before moving off to the side. “It was obvious by the gator’sdemeanor that he was a supporter and not a scab, for the gator made no attempt to enter the Kaiser facility.”Roussel added, “If he had come from the other side of the fence, he wouldn’t have made it to the road.”The alligator spent 20 minutes in the area of the gate, visiting with his brother strikers before departing to seek his breakfast.

“You never know what’s going on out there in the middle of the night,” Roussel commented. “It was kind of surprising.”

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