* More smart divide and conquer by striking road workers. From a press release…

Local 150, Will & Grundy County Contractors Reach Agreement

Many south suburban projects to resume

Countryside, Illinois-This morning, the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150 and the Contractors Association of Will and Grundy Counties (CAWGC) reached a tentative three-year agreement, which will allow many projects affected by the strike to resume. The agreement calls for annual increases of 3.25 percent, which will go toward healthcare and benefits.

“This significance of this agreement cannot be overstated,” said James M. Sweeney, President-Business Manager of Local 150, “because you will see projects that have been stopped for more than two weeks start up again.”

Some of the projects that will resume include:

· Interstate 55 construction

· Interstate 55 & Route 59 Interchange

· Route 59 construction

· Larkin Avenue from Route 30 to Route 52

· Weber Road from Lily Cache Road to Interstate 55

· Olivet Nazarene University improvements and chapel construction

Another result of this agreement will be the availability of construction equipment and materials that have not been available for many projects throughout the strike. Many projects held up because of their reliance on struck MARBA contractors for this equipment and material can now look to any of the 55 contractors signed to this agreement to provide what they need.

“What we are proposing to contractors is completely reasonable,” said Sweeney. “MARBA disagrees, but they are the only ones who do. These other associations have chosen fair contracts over needless stalling.”

“MARBA has said that agreements such as this don’t affect them, but if MARBA doesn’t want to return to work, these associations represent many contractors who can take over for them.”

The Laborers District Council of Chicago & Vicinity reached an agreement with CAWGC on Tuesday.

The International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 150 is a labor union representing more than 23,000 working men and women in Illinois, Indiana and Iowa. Local 150 represents workers in various industries, including construction, construction material production, concrete pumping, steel mill service, slag production, landscaping, public works and others.

* The contractors association isn’t budging, however. From a Thursday letter to its members…

It is unfortunate that the locals are attempting to pit companies against each other, but it is transparent and does not weaken our resolve one bit. In fact, it unites us even stronger.

We are attempting to put the union men and women back to work on jobs for which we are finally getting the opportunity to bid. While we were attempting to negotiate in good faith, the unions’ leaders declared a strike.

The unions have continued to demand a nearly 14 percent increase in wages and benefits over three years—their last offer was 4.55 percent per year for three years. Meanwhile the rank and file union members are out of work, unable to earn their $53 to $66 dollars an hour, while their leaders posture for the camera.

The projects that truly are of concern to people—the Eisenhower Expressway; downtown buildings like Roosevelt University’s tower; hospitals like Silver Cross in New Lenox—are still not resuming work and the vast majority of men and women represented by the locals are still out of work.

This strike may go on for a while until the unions get serious about recognizing today’s economic realities to help us secure work and put their members back on the job, and until that happens we may have a long way to go.

* That section in the union’s press release about how materials and equipment will now be freed up relates to this story…

A two-week-old construction workers strike that halted many Chicago-area roadway projects is now forcing the Illinois Tollway to set deadlines for the total suspension of three major projects, despite a written agreement prohibiting work stoppages, officials said Friday.

Construction crews on the tollway system are showing up for work. The problem is that the construction companies they work for cannot obtain the materials and equipment they need because union drivers are honoring the picket lines of striking laborers outside asphalt plants, concrete-mix facilities and quarries, officials said.

As a result, officials at the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority have stopped the removal of concrete on pavement-patching jobs on several interstates because of difficulty receiving materials to complete the work. In some cases, other work is continuing, but at a slow pace, officials said.

The toll authority also set deadlines Friday to fully suspend all work on the Edens Spur, the Veterans Memorial Tollway and the Tri-State Tollway/Reagan Memorial Tollway interchange–likely until next construction season.