Road projects stop as workers vote to hit picket lines
At least 300 road projects in the region will grind to a halt this morning as thousands of workers head to the picket lines following a vote Wednesday.
The strike by members of the International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 150, and Laborers' District Council of Chicago and Vicinity centers around wage and benefit issues and went into effect at midnight Wednesday.
It will affect Illinois Department of Transportation major construction efforts such as the Eisenhower Expressway and I-290/Route 53 resurfacing along with a slew of local improvements. Illinois tollway projects should not be impacted.
IDOT officials said they hoped the issue would be resolved quickly and in the meantime were securing work sites. Asked if the agency would reopen lanes closed for construction, spokeswoman Marisa Kollias said it was too early to tell.
"We just have to wait and see how this goes and what the time frame is. All options are on the table," Kollias said.
The unions had been negotiating with contractors' representatives, the Mid-America Regional Bargaining Association and Excavators Inc.
Union members said the contractors sought too many concessions.
Sticking points were 10 to 15 percent increases in health care and reduction in annual work hours from 1,600 to 1,000 on average.
"Contrary to the employers' rhetoric, we understand full well the pain this economy has caused for construction workers," Local 150 President James Sweeney said in a statement.
Contractors argued that operating engineers and laborers are paid between $35 to $45 an hour and demands for increases were impossible in the economic climate that has devastated the construction industry.
"Why not continue to work? There's another negotiation session set for July 7," MARBA spokeswoman Lissa Christman said.
The strike could idle multiple local road jobs in the suburbs from Washington Street near Gurnee to Army Trail Road in Addison to Palatine Road in Palatine.
In Lake County, 23 projects will be impacted, county engineer of construction Glenn Petko said.
"We are crossing our fingers and hoping this will be resolved quickly," he said. "A week or so wouldn't really matter." But if the strike lasts longer than two weeks, "then some of these larger projects wouldn't be completed by winter," Petko said.
Local 150 voted Wednesday to strike while the Laborers' made their decision earlier. The three-year contract ended May 31.
• Daily Herald staff writer Lee Filas contributed to this report.