MUNSTER | Roofers Local 26 is protesting the use of a non-union firm for a roofing job at the PepsiAmericas bottling plant in Munster.

Local 26 member Joe Pozzi, of Lowell, stood on the sidewalk in front of the plant Wednesday morning with a huge banner reading "PepsiAmericas Shame! Shame! Shame!"

"We have an unemployment rate of more than 9 percent here and they're hiring roofers from Michigan," Pozzi said. "That doesn't make sense."

Munster PepsiAmericas plant manager Mark Leahy did not return a call Wednesday morning seeking comment.

Local 26 attorney Paul Berkowitz said the union is protesting because the roofer on the job, CentiMark of Canonsburg, Penn., is not paying area standard wages.

"They want people in the community to buy Pepsi products at Pepsi prices," Berkowitz said. "But when it comes to employing people in the community -- they don't."

He confirmed that the protest is not related to PepsiCo Inc.'s $6 billion bid for PepsiAmericas and Pepsi Bottling Group, which was announced Monday.

The West Chicago office of CentiMark Corp. confirmed their company is performing the work at the PepsiAmericas plant in Munster. But it referred all further questions to CentiMark's corporate offices, which did not return a call seeking comment.

The plan employs 350 people in its bottling plant and sales offices, which are located at 9300 Calumet Avenue. When it was opened 31 years ago under the ownership of Pepsi Cola General Bottlers Inc., the Munster plant was the company's first almost fully computerized and automated Pepsi bottling plant.

Today, it produces more than 40 million cases of soft drinks annually, including Pepsi, Dr. Pepper, Hawaiian Punch, Mountain Dew and Aquafina bottled water.