The seven-week strike by Local 150 quarry workers ended on Tuesday, July 26. The work stoppage meant that asphalt wasn’t produced from Thornton Quarry and elsewhere, causing the delay of several construction and public works projects in the Homewood-Flossmoor area.
According to union representative Ed Maher, Local 150 members started going back to work the day the strike ended.
Local 150 is a branch of the International Union of Operating Engineers. They were on strike against three multinational companies that produce gravel, sand and crushed stone; Lehigh Hanson, Lafarge Holcim and Vulcan Materials.
The workers were striking for better wages, benefits and worker treatment, Maher said, adding that there hasn’t “been a strike in this industry since 1967.” During the strike, Maher said the employers repeatedly delayed negotiations to try and pressure the workers into giving in and rolling back their demands.
The strike created a shortage of crushed stone and concrete in the south suburbs, which led to the suspension of several construction and public works projects in the Homewood-Flossmoor area.
The revamping the playground at Willow School was delayed. The building of a classroom addition at Churchill School was delayed. The Homewood-Flossmoor Park District had to delay repairs to the ice arena. They said their contractor had to go to Will County to get the material for improvements at Patriots and Indian Trails Parks.
Local 150 union members started going back to work on Tuesday, July 26 and most members are back to work as of Wednesday, July 27, Maher said.
“The employees have a lot of demands. Everybody’s working to crush as much stone and create as much gravel as possible as fast as possible,” Maher said. “I think it’ll take a couple days to get the backlog of customers served, but everybody’s working really hard to do that.”
After the union rejected the contract proposed on July 15, the employers made further concessions in the contract proposal, Maher said, and union members approved it unanimously.
“Members will receive a minimum 16.14% economic increase over the three-year life of the agreement. The approved proposal included more than 20 language changes as well as economic increases to pay and benefits,” according to a Local 150 press release.
“These members’ resolve in striking against massive, global companies is a reminder to all workers that when we stand together, we can achieve more for ourselves and for our families,” said James M. Sweeney, the Local 150 President-Business Manager. “Today’s agreement means that these men and women’s rights will be protected at work, that they will be able to keep up with increasing costs, and that they will be able to continue to provide healthcare for their families.”
Maher said this strike is part of a growing, post-pandemic trend of workers nationwide realizing their negotiating power.
“Workers realize that they do have the power to have a little bit more say in their working spaces,” Maher said. “For the first time in my life, you can see employees truly being courted by every workplace. Whether it’s restaurants, coffee shops or corporations, everybody is struggling to attract talent. So, workers began to realize that they had a little bit more choice, a little bit more leverage.”