KNOX COUNTY (WVLT) -- Carpenter's Union workers spent Friday walking the picket line at a construction project on Northshore Drive.

They were not striking, because they don’t work there, but rather trying to support their fellow members of the working class.

"Everybody that puts on a tool belt, pulls a wrench, or whatever they do, we want the standards of living up,” said Kim Wolfe, senior organizer of the carpenters. "This is an informational picket, strictly informational, and we're informing the public to what's going on."

Robbie Helton is an organizing director with the Tennessee Carpenters Regional Council.

He said their complaints are two fold.

The first is that the project hired a subcontractor that doesn't use union labor, and the second, they claim, is that subcontractor Proffitt and Son’s, pays less and provides less benefits than others in the area.

"Anybody can go buy insurance, but if you're already making below standard wages, how in the world can you buy their insurance,” asked Helton?

Union officials also said the picketers are out because lower wages for one job could have an impact on them later on.

"We want them to bring their standards up so that they are not lowering area standards for the rest of the carpenters in the area,” Helton said.

According to a statement issued by the Sub Contractor on January 18th, the claims are unfounded.

In it, company president Ray Proffitt Jr. says Proffitt and Sons, Inc. pays in excess of the area wages and benefits for carpenters.

While the parties agree to disagree, Helton believes they will not go away.

"We intend to keep this campaign up until they agree to become an area standards contractor and meet those standards,” he said.

Helton also claims the project's general contractor, Leopardo Companies out of Illinois, was supposed to hire all union work for the job but did not.

Attempts to reach officials with Leopardo were unsuccessful.