Illinois Quarry Workers OK Deal to End Seven-Week Strike That Delayed Roadwork

Abstract

July 26, 2022 Annemarie Mannion KEYWORDS Aggregates / asphalt / labor Order Reprints No Comments Seven weeks after it started, a strike that hampered road construction in northeastern Illinois has ended with quarry workers approving a new contract with materials producers Lehigh Hanson, Vulcan Materials and Lafarge Holcim. Three hundred members of the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150 voted unanimously July 25 to accept the contract that calls for workers to receive a minimum 16.14% economic increase over the three-year life of the agreement. Local 150 spokesman Ed Maher said the strike delayed road work throughout northeastern Illinois. Maher said the strike started because of unfair labor practices such as unilateral changes to collective bargaining agreements and threatening members against going to union meetings. "The eyes of the state were on us-construction companies, local governments, state legislators," he said. "CAAPA employers have been actively working to resolve this strike," the letter noted, adding that the association "Tried to engage with Local 150 representatives two months prior to expiration of the current contract, in March of this year, but union leaders refused to engage in any bargaining until after the contract expired."CAAPA added that an offer in April of a short-term extension of the existing contract while negotiations were underway also "Was rejected by Local 150."This strike, loss of wages, and all associated project delays could have been avoided," the members added. Local 150 represents 23,000 workers in Illinois, Indiana and Iowa in construction and related industries, including material production, heavy equipment operation, concrete pumping, steel mill service, slag production and public works, among others.