Strike Slowing Summer Construction In Chicago Area Comes To An End

CHICAGO — Seven weeks after workers at three major Northern Illinois construction material producers went on strike, triggering slowdowns of planned summer construction across the Chicago area, union members overwhelmingly approved a new contract Monday.

About 300 employees represented by the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150 who work at about 35 quarries and other facilities operated by the companies Lafarge Holcim, Lehigh Hanson and Vulcan Materials accused their bosses of violations of their federally protected rights and bad-faith bargaining and walked off the job June 7.

The three companies negotiate together as the Chicago Area Aggregate Producers Association, or CAAPA. Aggregate is a term for materials including sand, gravel and crushed stone used in the production of asphalt and concrete, and the strike has led to shortages of supplies at infrastructure projects across the region.

"The timing of the work stoppage could not occur at a worse time, at the height of construction season and during peak driving season with an eager public ready to travel after two years of a pandemic," Illinois Department of Transportation Secretary Omer Osman said in a June 30 letter to the association warning that the agency would consider spending new project awards if the strike continued.

Osman said the strike jeopardized the state's ability to deliver on Gov. J.B. Pritzker's promise to modernize infrastructure through the Rebuild Illinois plan and called on management to bargain in good faith while offering "the wages and protections the workers deserve," according to a copy of the letter provided by Local 150.

"The department will not bear any responsibility or cost for increased expenses experienced because of the strike," the secretary said, noting that the strike had already had negative effects on the reconstruction of the Jane Byrne Interchange, the Interstate 55 and Weber Road interchange, the Interstate 80 bridge in Joliet, as well as other projects.

Union representatives have filed complaints with the National Labor Relations Board regarding the companies' conduct and accused the firms of busing in replacement workers.

Related: Strike At Chicago-Area Quarries Affects Local Construction Projects

The employers made what they described as a final offer on July 15, but union representatives said it was full off errors and deviated from language upon which both sides had previously agreed.

"We have had to spend this entire week cleaning up the mess that CAAPA created with its language changes," Local 150 President and Business Manager James Sweeney said in a statement Friday. "To call this a waste of time would be an understatement, and it is shameful for CAAPA to cause yet another long delay while more projects and workers are being impacted every day."

On Sunday, members overwhelmingly voted to reject the offer, according to Local 150 representatives.

On Monday, Local 150 negotiators reached a tentative agreement, which was presented to workers for a vote Tuesday at union headquarters in Countryside.

Ahead of the vote, Emily MacMillan, a spokesperson for the producers' association, described the new contract proposal as "generous," telling WTTW that it includes more than 20 changes requested by the union, as well as continued health care and pension benefits.

"We’re pleased members of International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150 voted in favor of the three-year contract we negotiated in partnership with union leaders. The contract ensures the health, safety and protection of our valued employees," McMillan told Patch after the vote. "We look forward to welcoming them back to work.”

Union representatives said members were unanimous in their vote to approve the three-year agreement, which provides for a wage increase of at least 16.15 percent over the term of the contract.

"The strike is over. We thank the members as well as the other building trades and the public for the incredible support you’ve shown us over the past seven weeks," Local 150 officials said in a social media post. "It is our hope that this strike will help all workers achieve more at the bargaining table."