Union Criticizes Western Springs Low Bidder

WESTERN SPRINGS, IL – Western Springs trustees on Monday chose the low bidder for a flooring job, despite a union's warnings against doing so.

Bolingbrook-based DeSitter Flooring was the low bidder, at $18,500. It beat four other bids, ranging from $27,300 to $32,562.

At a Village Board meeting, Jimmy St. Paul, business agent for Carpenters Local 1185, said the "outlier" bid was an indication that DeSitter planned to violate the state Prevailing Wage Act, which guarantees union-level wages for government projects.

He said the company violated the prevailing wage law in 2022.

Asked about that Tuesday, St. Paul emailed a copy of a letter from the state Department of Labor on Aug. 29, 2022, about DeSitter.

The department said it completed its investigation into DeSitter and concluded the company violated the prevailing wage law. DeSitter paid $1,548 in penalties to the department, the letter said.

In an interview Wednesday, DeSitter co-owner Tom Cunningham said his firm pays prevailing wages for government jobs.

"We did a walk-through (in Western Springs). We looked at it really closely. We provided a precision quote," Cunningham said.

Besides, the company's La Grange showroom is in Western Springs' backyard, he said.

"We want their work. That factored in. We don't want outsiders coming into our backyard," Cunningham said. "We really get down to the nitty-gritty."

As for the state's letter, Cunningham said he could find no entry in the company's accounting system that indicated it paid the $1,548 in penalties.

At the board meeting, St. Paul asked trustees to throw out DeSitter's bid because of the past issue.

The village's attorney, Michael Jurusik, thanked St. Paul for bringing the matter to the village's attention. But he said Western Springs must honor the bidding process.

He said that if St. Paul or anyone else learns of prevailing wage violations on the project, the village would notify the Labor Department.

"We're not in a position to disqualify them based on information you brought forward because they did comply and they were the low bidder through our procurement process," Jurusik said.

St. Paul said the Labor Department is understaffed on such issues. He compared prevailing wage violations to speeding.

"You can speed all day long for weeks on end without getting popped," St. Paul said. "An example of a company like this getting popped is somewhat of an outlier."

He said it was likely DeSitter would continue committing violations until it got enough strikes that the state would bar it from bidding on public work.

The vote for DeSitter was unanimous.

In 2021, the area's painters union advised the La Grange Village Board to overlook the low bidder for a tower painting job because of previous issues. The board chose the low bidder. Later, the union pointed to problems with the project.