Strike Delays Elmhurst Road Projects

ELMHURST, IL – Elmhurst residents may have noticed road projects around town have been stopped.

That's because of a strike at area quarries by members of the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150.

At the quarries, the members mine for the stone, gravel and sand that are essential in road materials such as asphalt.

The strike started in early June against Lehigh Hanson, Vulcan Materials and Lafarge Holcim. The union represents operators of heavy equipment.

One of Elmhurst's projects — the restoration of the First Street bridge over Robert Palmer Drive – is unaffected by the strike. It started in mid-June.

"We made sure there was enough material available so that work could start and be completed without any delay, and I'm happy to say that is happening," City Manager Jim Grabowski told the City Council on Monday. "They've got the concrete down. They're doing some additional work on it, but that looks like it will open on time with the materials that were needed."

Before the project began, the city said it would complete it by the end of July.

Meanwhile, other street projects are delayed.

"We're trying to take an approach where we certainly make progress on them, but not so that any street is exposed to gravel for any length of time," Grabowski said.

The city has placed an intermediate layer known as binder course on the streets, he said.

"Unfortunately, that leaves some gaps between the curb and street, which you may have noticed in some of the areas," Grabowski said. "We're doing our best to fill those in as we can."

The city is closely watching the strike and is confident it will finish the projects by winter, he said.

On Monday, Local 150's president, James Sweeney, told members that the materials companies submitted a flawed "final offer" Friday. He said the firms warned they would withdraw all back pay if members failed to approve the offer by Sunday.

"Clearly, after dragging their feet through this entire strike, the companies wanted to put a gun to your heads," Sweeney said to members.

In a news release in early June, Local 150 said it filed complaints with the National Labor Relations Board. It accused the companies of bad faith bargaining and violations of employees' federally protected rights.

Together, the companies operate 35 quarries and facilities across northern Illinois and employ 300 Local 150 members.

In a statement in June, the Chicago Area Aggregate Producers Association, which represents the companies, said it has been trying to get to the "real issues" since early March. It said the union had yet to present a wage and benefits proposal.

"(Association) members work hard to treat their employees fairly, and they value employee safety, health and well-being," the statement said.

The association said Local 150 members pay no premiums for their health insurance and that members have access to a "comfortable" pension plan.

In its latest statement, the association said it presented a fair and final contract offer that "reflects our good faith bargaining efforts since March 1."

"We continue to meet with Local 150 leaders. Our top priority is getting our employees back to work," the statement said.