COEUR d'ALENE - Carpenter union protesters say they will be standing outside Kootenai Health in an attempt to shame them for using sub-contractors who refuse to pay wages commensurate to the "Area Standard Wages."

"It's important to note that Kootenai Health does not have a labor dispute with anyone," said Jeremy Evans, vice president of operations at Kootenai Health. "This is part of a national campaign. They are doing this banner shaming all over the country."

The dispute is between the Pacific Northwest Regional Council of Carpenters, out of Kent, Wash., and two local drywall contractors that are working on a construction job at the hospital.

Evans said he has talked with the union representative to explain the hospital is bound by state law to give the contract to the lowest qualified bidder, but the union doesn't seem to care about that.

He has even contacted the sub-contractors, and he said they are doing an outstanding job.

"I have been assured that they are paying their employees fair wages as well," he said.

PNRCC is organizing the paid-protest that has been ongoing for a couple of months.

"Who knows? We could be out there for three, four, five months, or maybe a year, or maybe even two years," said Pedro Espinoza, the union's representative for North Idaho and Washington. "If they keep using these contractors, we will be there."

Espinoza said the said his union has been in a wage dispute with two sub-contractors in the area for more than three years. The dispute stems from a negotiated wage and benefit package they made with more than 800 contractors in six Pacific Northwest states, which they call Area Standard Wages.

The standard is adjusted for regional economies of scale, and in North Idaho the PNRCC said carpenters working on the Kootenai Health Building should be making a little more than $25 an hour in wages alone and nearly $13 an hour in additional benefits, which include health insurance and pension payments.

The carpenters working on the Kootenai Health building are making between $15 and $25 in total wages, Espinoza said.

"This has nothing to do with union or non-union jobs," he said. "We are defending the wage of carpenters. We don't care if they belong to a union or not, we just want them to pay a living wage."

Espinoza said PNRCC is not in a direct dispute with the hospital, but they are aware of the dispute and his organization is prepared to stay on the sidewalk with its banner for as long as the hospital chooses to do business with them.

He said the protesters are being paid $12.50 an hour with no benefits. The protesters are not authorized to discuss the dispute, but they do have flyers that explain the issues and direct readers to their website.

Evans said the union protest is protected free speech under national labor laws, so there is very little Kootenai Health can do.

"Even though what they are doing is not based in truth, fact or reality," he added.