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* UPDATED x2 * Major road projects imperiled as Local 150 walks out on strike at three dozen aggregate quarries and facilities

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* A 150 official told me last night that, depending on how well the companies have planned for this strike, “projects will shut down pretty quickly over the next week or so. Most projects in need of aggregate will try to do other things on the project to wait out the strike, but there’s only so much that can be done without aggregate.” Official 150 statement…

This morning, the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150 commenced a strike against three major material producers at facilities across Northern Illinois in protest of unfair labor practices committed against its members.

In recent days, Local 150 filed federal unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board against the three companies – Lehigh Hanson, Vulcan Materials, and Lafarge Holcim – for bad faith bargaining and violations of employees’ federally protected rights. These companies began busing in replacement workers yesterday at several locations, despite having negotiations scheduled today and tomorrow.

The companies produce aggregate materials including sand, gravel and crushed stone that are essential to the production of asphalt, concrete, and many other construction materials. Collectively, they operate approximately 35 quarries and facilities across Northern Illinois that employ approximately 300 Local 150 members, who were classified as “essential workers” throughout the pandemic. These workers operate heavy equipment that is critical to the routine operation of these facilities.

Local 150 President-Business Manager James M. Sweeney issued the following statement:

“The companies’ aggressive encroachment against their employees’ rights has damaged decades of goodwill and cooperation in our industry. They have disregarded these workers’ health and safety and appear unwilling to negotiate in good faith.

These workers take pride in the tireless work they have done to keep critical construction work going throughout the pandemic, and despite their efforts, their employers have taken unilateral steps to treat them more like adversaries than partners.

As we prepared for this week’s negotiations, we received reports that several companies began importing replacement workers from across the country. We remain willing to negotiate in good faith with the companies and have offered several dates to work toward a fair and equitable resolution, but these workers demand to have their rights, their health and their safety protected at work.

These men and women are highly skilled professionals who cannot simply be replaced and who will not be treated as commodities by multinational corporations more concerned with continuing to generate record profits rather than protecting the safety of the very workers who are the bedrock of their success.”

The companies are using non-union employees/management to load at the quarries. We’ll see how long that lasts. I’ve asked the governor’s office for a statement.

*** UPDATE 1 *** From the companies…

Hello Rich,

Please see below for a statement from the Chicago Area Aggregate Producers Association, comprised of Lehigh Hanson, Vulcan Materials and Lafarge:

“We are proud of our strong relationship with Local 150, evidenced by 55 years without a work stoppage. We value our employees and provide them with competitive wages, comprehensive benefits and a safe work environment. We remain committed to moving forward with a new contract and urge cooperation from our Local 150 partners.” - Spokesperson for Chicago Area Aggregate Producers Association

The union says about 300 members are on strike.

…Adding… Geneva sped up a project because of the strike…

Due to a pending strike by construction material suppliers, the City of Geneva has adjusted the work schedule for the Third Street sanitary sewer system repair project. […]

The City accelerated the schedule to make sure the roadway would be fully repaired in a timely fashion well ahead of the Swedish Days festival later this month.

*** UPDATE 2 *** Jordan Abudayyeh…

The Governor urges the companies involved to return to the bargaining table ready to negotiate in good faith with workers who deserve fair wages and safe working conditions. Illinoisans deserve the work of restoring their roads during this important season to continue uninterrupted.

posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Jun 7, 22 @ 10:09 am

Comments

“The companies produce aggregate materials including sand, gravel and crushed stone that”

The state rock Dolostone is in the headlines already.

Comment by Donnie Elgin Tuesday, Jun 7, 22 @ 10:12 am
The aggregate issue probably won’t affect down state all that much. I don’t know about Vulcan Materials but Lehigh Hanson and Lafarge Holcim both produce portland cement for this region of the country, that could affect any project that requires concrete or masonry mortar.

Comment by Gruntled University Employee Tuesday, Jun 7, 22 @ 10:20 am
The giant rats will be out. I cant imagine this will last too long .

Comment by Regular democrat Tuesday, Jun 7, 22 @ 10:24 am
===cant imagine this will last too long===

I dunno. These are big companies.

Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Jun 7, 22 @ 10:27 am
Hanson is the reason my basement floods. They can kick large rocks.

Comment by ChrisB Tuesday, Jun 7, 22 @ 10:28 am
oh great, longer construction season.

Comment by Amalia Tuesday, Jun 7, 22 @ 10:41 am
It could go on a long time. These big companies can pay to bring in workers from out of state who will work for low wages.

Comment by Publius Tuesday, Jun 7, 22 @ 10:48 am
I would rather JBP extend his hefty influence into this battle instead of vanity elections in the north shore, but I suppose there’s still time.

Comment by SWSider Tuesday, Jun 7, 22 @ 11:03 am
Breaking rocks in the hot sun…

Maybe prison labor could help in the interim?

Comment by 47th Ward Tuesday, Jun 7, 22 @ 11:10 am
- out of state who will work for low wages. -

Won’t do any good if 150 decides to prevent the materials from being delivered to job sites.

Comment by Excitable Boy Tuesday, Jun 7, 22 @ 11:13 am
Their complaints aside, 300 Local 150 workers shutting down job sites which employ thousands of other people both directly and peripherally and prolonging the construction season agony for commuters may not be the best PR.

Comment by Responsa Tuesday, Jun 7, 22 @ 11:33 am
Those who control the material control the industry.

Aren’t these material producers subject to prevailing wage laws?

Comment by City Zen Tuesday, Jun 7, 22 @ 11:43 am
- may not be the best PR. -

Unions aren’t PR firms, they exist to protect their workers.

Comment by Excitable Boy Tuesday, Jun 7, 22 @ 11:43 am
@Publius - these aren’t unskilled jobs. Quickly hiring a bunch of people and hoping to keep operating smoothly isn’t serving many companies very well these days. Add in complicated heavy equipment that requires a lot of maintenance, and it may prove challenging to stay afloat with temp workers.

Comment by Uncle Merkin Tuesday, Jun 7, 22 @ 11:43 am
I’m interested to know what all candidates’ receiving contributions from 150 position is on this.

Comment by Blooms of Spring Tuesday, Jun 7, 22 @ 11:45 am
curious to see union demands in contract talks.

Comment by Blue Dog Tuesday, Jun 7, 22 @ 11:45 am
Are Teamsters honoring the strike? If so, the quarries can crush all the rock they want, but if there is no one to haul, not much will get done.

Comment by Huh? Tuesday, Jun 7, 22 @ 11:47 am
====Aren’t these material producers subject to prevailing wage laws?=====
I am not sure if prevailing wage laws trickle down to those supplying materials. And my guess is these big companies might be feeling the pressure from other big out of state producers who may not be paying the same rates to their employees. Even if they are union.

Comment by Been There Tuesday, Jun 7, 22 @ 12:23 pm
Prevailing wage applies to public works projects where the governmental agency contracts out the work.

It would not apply to a material supplier unless they were the contractor.

Comment by Huh? Tuesday, Jun 7, 22 @ 12:59 pm
The workers seem to be in good position; height of construction season, lack of trained replacements and diesel prices so high that trucking in from further away to be prohibitively expensive.

Comment by doppleganger Tuesday, Jun 7, 22 @ 1:35 pm
== I would rather JBP extend his hefty influence into this battle instead of vanity elections in the north shore, but I suppose there’s still time.==

Given 150’s membership, Pritzker may not be very effective in keeping them unified

Comment by Arsenal Tuesday, Jun 7, 22 @ 1:39 pm
Maybe Irvin should get involved since the union endorsed him?

Comment by Sax Tuesday, Jun 7, 22 @ 2:23 pm
300 Local 150 workers walked out but 1000’s more could end up being laid off if it’s not resolved soon. Most concrete and asphalt plans have enough material on the ground for a week before they will shut down and that will be the end of the road for most transportation projects, even electricians need concrete. The only change to the excavators new agreement with 150 that stands out to me and might not sit well with Hanson or Lafargre is the addition of remote controlled or autonomous equipment to the agreement. Quarries around the world already use it and 150 maybe trying to add it to the agreement.

Comment by Illinikid Tuesday, Jun 7, 22 @ 3:24 pm
There have been pickets at the Lafarge Vermilionville quarry, south of Utica, for several months.

Comment by Huh? Tuesday, Jun 7, 22 @ 3:50 pm
Not all truck drivers(dump truck) are union like in my case but regardless if someone doesn’t give these poor operators days off for COVID a lot of people will suffer and that doesn’t sit well with me

Comment by Rockem Wednesday, Jun 8, 22 @ 9:44 pm
You all know there is just more than road work affected. Every construction company, union or not, is being shut down. Concrete and asphalt businesses of all sizes are being hurt by this shut down. Truck drivers are now out of work. Hundreds of thousands of workers across IL are going to be laid off because of this. We all worked during the pandemic, so I don’t understand the singling out of these 300 as heros, when hundreds of thousands of construction workers continued to work. This could further destroy small businesses who were already struggling from 2 years of the pandemic lock downs and policies.

Comment by Anonymous Monday, Jun 13, 22 @ 12:35 pm