Inflatable Rat At Hufford Junior High Construction Site: 10 Photos, Video

Joliet District 86 Superintendent Theresa Rouse received harsh criticism from the men at Local 150 for hiring a Maryland contractor.

John Ferak, Patch Staff

Posted Tue, Jun 3, 2025 at 12:23 pm CT|Updated Tue, Jun 3, 2025 at 5:34 pm CT

One of their banners placed along the chain link fence declares, "SHAME ON DEKALB MECHANICAL FOR HARBORING RATS." (John Ferak/Joliet Patch Editor )

JOLIET, IL — The giant new Hufford Junior High School is being built near the corner of Larkin Avenue and Ingalls Avenue, but not everyone is thrilled with the ongoing construction work. There is an inflatable rat strapped to the ground on Ingalls Avenue and a person wearing a furry costume walking along the street to let motorists know that Local 150 is fuming mad with Joliet District 86 Superintendent Theresa Rouse and other District 86 school officials.

According to Local 150, the general contractor for the new Hufford is Nicholas, and piping subcontractor DeKalb Mechanical has hired a non-union outfit out of Maryland at the request of the Joliet School superintendent — even though there is a banner displayed near the construction site proclaiming "PROUD UNION PROJECT This Nicholas project is made possible by 100 percent Union labor."

Several men with Local 150 told Joliet Patch on Tuesday that they have been picketing the Hufford construction site since last Wednesday. They also plan to be here for another month. Local 150 even has one of its new Local 150 Scab Tracker yellow vans parked along Ingalls Avenue. You can't miss it. Its license plates read SCABBY.

Find out what's happening in Jolietfor free with the latest updates from Patch.

Meanwhile, Local 150 has erected one of its own banners along the chain link fence declaring, "SHAME ON DEKALB MECHANICAL FOR HARBORING RATS."

The picket signs from Local 150 indicate they are on strike against Allied Well Geothermal.

Find out what's happening in Jolietfor free with the latest updates from Patch.

Joliet Patch has reached out to the Joliet District 86 spokeswoman for their reaction to Local 150's ongoing labor protest at the Hufford Junior High School construction site.

"Prevailing wages are paid to all contractors and subcontractors working on our projects at Gompers and Hufford Junior High Schools. There is only one job that is not union, while the rest of the work on the sites are fully union. The job is for geothermal well drilling," responded Sandy Zalewski, director for communications and development with Joliet Public Schools District 86.