HeyBub wrote:
Because they weren't union.

"...crews from Alabama got the shock of their lives when other
workers in a coastal New Jersey town told them they couldn't lend a
hand without a union card."

http://dailycaller.com/2012/11/02/ne...#ixzz2B3qPshgA

Several subsequent news reports say that the above was incorrect, that help
is not being refused because of lack of union membership.