Work stoppage could threaten start of Naperville C

[title1parent]

www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=391523&src=76

Work stoppage could threaten start of Naperville Central's school year
By Melissa Jenco | Daily Herald 7/2/10

Striking workers have shut down construction at Naperville Central High School in a move that could affect the start of classes for thousands of students this fall.

Naperville Unit District 203 Superintendent Mark Mitrovich said work on the $87.7 million renovation project came to a halt Thursday morning.

He said the work stoppage could be "potentially devastating" if it causes major delays in a project that already was operating on a tight timetable.

The school at 440 W. Aurora Ave. serves roughly 3,000 students.

"They're jeopardizing the future of young people here, particularly the graduating seniors," Mitrovich said.

The International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 150 and Laborers' District Council of Chicago and Vicinity both are at odds with the Mid-America Regional Bargaining Association and Excavators Inc. over wage and benefit issues. The groups represent about 15,000 workers.

The strike is affecting at least 300 area road projects and, as of Thursday morning, Naperville Central's renovation.

The school is building a three-story addition that will house all major subject areas. It also is getting infrastructure upgrades, a new learning resource center, new athletic and music spaces, improved traffic flow inside and out and synthetic turf on the football field. The project will affect roughly 75 percent of the building.

School board member Terry Fielden, who works in the construction industry, called the project at Central "an aggressive program with an unparalleled scope of work." He said via e-mail the school cannot open until the work scheduled for this summer is complete.

The district already was racing the clock and had pushed back the start of classes a week to Aug. 25. Crews of 175 to 250 - representing more than just laborers and operating engineers - have been on site six days a week since classes let out in late May and are tearing up 165,000 square feet of the building this summer.

Mitrovich said each day the project is delayed likely will require more than a day to be made up. Officials are studying options in the event school can't begin on Aug. 25, including split shifts at Naperville North High School or moving to an off-site location.

"We're doing everything we can and looking at every option to preserve this for the students and believe me no one is going to be resting up here," he said. "We may have to see how creative we can get in terms of alternatives."

Any delays in construction also are likely to drive up costs, but Mitrovich said it is too soon to say by how much.

He said school officials previously had discussed labor issues related to the construction project, but given the rate of unemployment in the construction industry a strike didn't seem like a strong possibility.

Union negotiations are scheduled to resume July 7, but Ed Maher, communications director for the operating engineers, said his group would like to meet sooner.

He also said he understands the school district's frustration.

"Our members never want to go on strike ... a strike is not good for anybody," he said. "But when contractors are trying to use the economic downturn to take away what we spent 30 years negotiating and fighting for, we can't have that either."

Among the points of contention in the negotiations are 10 percent to 15 percent increases in health care and reduction in annual work hours from 1,600 to 1,000 on average.

Contractors argue that operating engineers and laborers are paid between $35 to $45 an hour and the 5 percent annual wage increases they are asking for are impossible given the state of the economy.

Mid-America Regional Bargaining Association spokeswoman Lissa Christman said she doesn't understand why the unions went on strike since they had previously agreed not to until July 7. She added they are losing out on wages by doing so.

As for the impact on District 203, she said, "We feel their pain. We're all in a difficult time and hopefully it will be negotiated soon."

[asmodeus]

These union thugs are scum. We need to bust every single one of these unions.

[steckdad]

everything and every one is so awesome in 203 they should be able to wave their hands over the workers and the strike will be over.....

[asmodeus]

But it's not a D203 issue...these people are from the same union as those who were working on the Eisenhower expressway. They don't care about ANYONE but themselves.

[incognito]

Jul 2, 2010 14:44:11 GMT -5 asmodeus said:

But it's not a D203 issue...these people are from the same union as those who were working on the Eisenhower expressway. They don't care about ANYONE but themselves.

Asmo, I am 100% with you. Same losers too I am sure who are working on 75th and Washington. Drove thru today...major back ups as always and no fricken workers. I would hope Illinois doesn't enforce the cell phone ban in construction areas while these loonies aren't working. You'd think with unemployment being in excess of 10% in Illlinios they'd be thankful for jobs.....clueless.

[title1parent]

www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=391660&src=76

Dist. 203 wants court to order Naperville C. workers back on job
By Bob Smith and Justin Kmitch | Daily Herald 7/2/10

Naperville Unit District 203 is poised to seek a temporary restraining order Tuesday morning to force nonstriking union workers to resume construction at Naperville Central High School, officials said Friday.

Superintendent Mark Mitrovich said the legal action will be part of a larger campaign that will include e-mail blasts, signs at Naperville schools and fliers that will be distributed outside Central and at the Naperville Ribfest celebration across the street.

School district attorney Ken Florey said he will seek help from the National Labor Relations Board to get crews back on the project if work does not resume Saturday or Monday.

"On any given work day, that school should be a beehive of activity with more than a hundred different trade workers getting this thing done," Florey said Friday. "Come first-thing Tuesday morning, if it's still shut down, or has been shut down over the weekend, we'll petition the NLRB to file a complaint for unfair labor practice based on the illegal secondary boycotting of the project."

The illegal boycotting comes into play, Florey said, when nonstriking union members honor the strikers' picket line, forcing the project to be stopped.

"Federal law allows for a two-gate system at picket sites with one gate for the striking workers and a second gate for nonstriking workers," Florey said. "If that is set up correctly, the workers not on strike are required to honor the construction contract and get back to work without technically crossing any picket lines."

Mitrovich said the district also is drafting a letter to the striking unions pledging that workers who return to the job site will be paid "retroactively whatever they settle on from the day they get it."

In return, he said, the district would require the picket lines come down and the school gets finished on time.

Work on the $87.7 million renovation project came to a halt Thursday morning and is unlikely to resume until next Tuesday or Wednesday at the earliest - even if the district gets its temporary restraining order, Mitrovich said.

Without the restraining order, there's no telling how long the labor strife that's affecting construction projects throughout the region could delay renovations at the school.

With the project already on a tight timetable to be finished by the scheduled start of classes, that could be devastating for the district - and especially Central seniors - the superintendent said.

Losing even three days this week (including Saturday, which is a scheduled work day), "was about the window we had," Mitrovich said. "We're in trouble and they (union officials) were aware of that."

The school at 440 W. Aurora Ave. serves roughly 3,000 students.

The International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 150 and Laborers' District Council of Chicago and Vicinity both are at odds with the Mid-America Regional Bargaining Association and Excavators Inc., representing contractors, over wage and benefit issues. The groups represent about 15,000 workers.

The strike is affecting at least 300 area road projects as well as the Central renovation.

The school is building a three-story addition that will house all major subject areas. It also is getting infrastructure upgrades, a new learning resource center, new athletic and music spaces, improved traffic flow inside and out, and synthetic turf on the football field.

The project affects roughly 75 percent of the building.

The district already was racing the clock and had pushed back the start of classes a week to Aug. 25. Crews of 175 to 250 - representing more than just laborers and operating engineers - have been on site six days a week since classes let out in late May and are replacing 165,000 square feet of the building.

That work stopped Thursday and Mitrovich says the district has no choice but to do everything in its power to get nonstriking workers back on the job as quickly as possible.

With that in mind, he said the district hopes to establish two gates at the work site - one where striking union members can picket and the other where nonstriking workers can enter without technically crossing the picket line.

He said officials plan to meet with administrators from both Naperville Central and Naperville North next Tuesday to discuss possible options if Central isn't ready for the start of the new school year.

He said the district is especially concerned with the impact on Central's roughly 750 to 800 seniors.

Among the possibilities being considered are having seniors start the year in another building to be determined or filing an appeal with the Illinois State Board of Education to delay the opening of classes.

[title1parent]

www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=392081&src=76

District 203 continuing push to bring workers back to Central
By Melissa Jenco | Daily Herald 7/5/10


Naperville Unit District 203 officials will continue their push this week to convince striking workers to resume construction at Naperville Central High School.

The district's facilities committee will meet early Tuesday morning to get an update on the status of the project and talk about its options.

Work on the $87.7 million renovation came to a halt Thursday after the International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 150 and Laborers' District Council of Chicago and Vicinity went on strike.

The unions are at odds with the Mid-America Regional Bargaining Association and Excavators Inc.

District 203 is petitioning the National Labor Relations Board to file an unfair labor practice complaint because nonstriking union members also have stopped working.

Superintendent Mark Mitrovich said that based on the response he receives from the labor board, the district may ask the courts for a temporary restraining order to force nonstriking workers to resume construction.

District 203 has sent a letter to the striking unions offering to retroactively pay workers who return to the job site based on what settlement they ultimately reach with the contractors' group.

Mitrovich did not receive a response over the holiday weekend. The district office was closed Monday but he said he had been checking e-mails from home.

"The sides that really have something to say about this are being very, very quiet and not a whole lot is getting done," he said.

Ed Maher, communications director for the operating engineers, declined to comment on the district's offer, saying he had not yet seen the letter.

Maher has been hearing from Central parents concerned about the strike affecting students and said he understands their frustrations, but the union also has to protect its members. He said the union is eager to resume negotiations.

School is scheduled to begin Aug. 25 for Central's 3,000 students. However, they will not be able to use the building at 440 W. Aurora Ave. until all of the scheduled summer work is complete.

The district already was pressed for time before the strike and had workers on site six days a week tearing up roughly 165,000 square feet of the building.

This week's to-do list includes identifying alternatives sites at which to hold classes in the event the building is not ready in time.

"Unless something dramatic happens this week we're going to be hard-pressed to open school on the 25th," Mitrovich said.

Work at Central began in May 2009. The overall project will affect roughly 75 percent of the building and includes a three-story addition that will house all major subject areas.

It also calls for infrastructure upgrades, a near learning resource center, new athletic and music spaces, improved traffic flow inside and out and synthetic turf on the football field. The project is scheduled to wrap up in December 2011.

[asmodeus]

District 203 has sent a letter to the striking unions offering to retroactively pay workers who return to the job site based on what settlement they ultimately reach with the contractors' group.

Am I missing something here? Isn't the sole purpose of a strike to force management's hand with a work stoppage?

I can't stand unions or strikes, but this proposal just seems out of touch with reality.

[title1parent]

UPDATE:

www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=392193&src=76

Work resumes -- for now -- at Naperville Central
By Bob Smith | Daily Herald 7/6/10

The majority of construction crews returned to work - at least temporarily - Tuesday morning at Naperville Central High School, but the number dwindled by midafternoon.

With an ongoing strike affecting hundreds of road and building projects across the region, Naperville Unit District 203 officials said they're unsure how long the crews will remain on the job. But the fact that many workers returned for at least a day was enough to convince administrators to delay plans to ask the courts for a temporary restraining order to force nonstriking union workers to resume construction.

Ralph Weaver, the district's director of facilities, and school board member Terry Fielden said nonstriking union members were on the job site Tuesday. They said they hoped members of the two striking unions will join them, even if they don't yet have a new contract.

Indeed, members of the striking Laborers' District Council of Chicago and Vicinity were on hand for a short time, but left when pickets from the striking International Union of Operating Engineers arrived.

Ed Maher, spokesman for the Operating Engineers, said his members arrived to resurrect a picket line that he said was taken down without authority by members of the laborers union.

"They have no authority to speak on behalf of (Local) 150. We are still on strike," Maher said Tuesday afternoon. "As soon as we learned what went down at (Naperville) Central we sent our members out there to set that picket line back up."

The situation remains fluid, Fielden said.

He said school district officials have stressed they are not taking sides in the labor dispute, but urged both the unions and management to set aside their differences to keep the Central project on schedule.

Work on the $87.7 million renovation came to a halt July 1 after the two unions went on strike.

Maher said his members are "sympathetic" to the district's needs but stressed nothing will get done without continuing negotiations.

"We understand that there are 3,000 kids who will need a high school to return to at the end of summer and we're doing everything we can to get back to the table," Maher said. "I've got 2,300 members fighting for the future of their health care, so we've got issues we need resolved too."

The groups are at odds with the Mid-America Regional Bargaining Association and Excavators Inc., representing contractors, over wage and benefit issues. They represent about 15,000 workers.

District officials are concerned because they are operating on a very tight time frame to have the school ready for its scheduled Aug. 25 opening. They say they are especially worried about how construction delays might affect the school's 750 to 800 seniors.

Officials said they've already considered several alternatives in the event the school isn't ready on time. Those options include creating split shifts at Naperville North High School, petitioning the Illinois State Board of Education to delay the opening of classes, or even using vacant space at nearby Lucent for temporary classrooms.

All of that likely will be moot if the unions and management come to an agreement Wednesday when they are scheduled to return to the bargaining table.

"We're hearing that the employers' strategy is to starve the workers out through July but we're going into that meeting focused on walking out with a deal that gets our members back to work as soon as possible," Maher said. "I hope they're focused on the same."

District 203 officials say they know the strike is affecting hundreds of projects, but few are more important, or have a tighter time frame, than Central's.

The district launched a large-scale campaign over the weekend to convince workers to return to Central that included e-mail blasts, signs at Naperville schools and fliers that were distributed at the city's Ribfest celebration.

The district also said it was ready to petition the National Labor Relations Board to file a complaint for unfair labor practice based on what district attorney Ken Florey called "illegal secondary boycotting of the project."

Any such legal action has been put on hold for now.

Fielden said the district is proceeding with a promise to pay workers who return to the job retroactively to ensure they receive whatever is settled on during contract negotiations from the day they return.

The school at 440 W. Aurora Ave. serves roughly 3,000 students. Renovations include a three-story addition that will house all major subject areas.

Central also is getting infrastructure upgrades, a new learning resource center, new athletic and music spaces, improved traffic flow inside and out, and synthetic turf on its football field.

The project affects roughly 75 percent of the building.

Weaver said on average, between 100 and 150 workers - representing more than just laborers and operating engineers - have been on site six days a week since classes let out in late May.

He said the work those employees do is "intertwined and codependent," making it difficult for the project to continue if one or more groups is absent for any length of time.

Fielden said he is optimistic that if workers remain on the job through the rest of the summer the school will be ready for its Aug. 25 opening.

"As long as they continue working there's no question everything will be done by Aug. 25," he said.

He said the district tentatively plans to review an updated construction schedule Friday.

[title1parent]

THE SAGA CONTINUES....

www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=392621&src=76

Naperville Central construction delay continues
By Melissa Jenco | Daily Herald 7/8/10

Naperville Unit District 203 lost another day of construction Wednesday as striking laborers negotiated with contractors.

Delays on the $87.7 million renovation at Naperville Central High School continue to concern administrators who worry the building won't be ready in time for the start of classes in August.

"What's becoming more apparent to us is the longer this goes the greater the jeopardy we're in in terms of the kind of irreparable harm to kids caused by their action," Superintendent Mark Mitrovich said.

There was a glimmer of hope Tuesday as nonstriking crews returned to Central, but Mitrovich said they were only on site for the morning and did not accomplish anything.

He said the district will move forward with filing a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board, then potentially asking the courts for a temporary restraining order to force nonstriking union workers to resume construction.

Work came to a halt July 1 after the International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 150 and Laborers' District Council of Chicago and Vicinity went on strike. The groups are at odds with Mid-America Regional Bargaining Association and Excavators Inc. and were in talks Wednesday.

The project at Central, 400 W. Aurora Ave., includes a three-story addition that will house all major subject areas. The 3,000-student school also will get infrastructure upgrades, a new learning resource center, new athletic and music space, improved traffic flow and synthetic turf on its football field.

If the work slated for this summer is not complete by the time classes begin Aug. 25 the district cannot reopen the building. Officials are exploring options such as split shifts at Naperville North High School, petitioning the state Board of Education to delay the opening of classes or even using vacant space at the nearby Alcatel-Lucent campus in Lisle.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

District 203, unions broker deal for Naperville Central work to continue
By Justin Kmitch | Daily Herald 7/8/10

Construction crews have returned to work - again - at Naperville Central High School, despite an ongoing labor strike that has shut down hundreds of other projects across the region.

Naperville Unit District 203 officials brokered a deal at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday with International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 150 and Laborers' District Council of Chicago and Vicinity that exempts the project from the strike, Superintendent Mark Mitrovich announced Thursday.

Mitrovich would not disclose details of the pact and said they will not be discussed until the school board officially approves the deal at its July 19 meeting.

"This is an accord in principle at this point. There is no final document. There are no details," Mitrovich said. "At this point those details will not be released until the board meeting on July 19. But what we did achieve is the fact that the pickets have been taken down, everyone is back at work and we can go ahead."

Ed Maher, spokesman for the Operating Engineers, said the district reached out to the unions Tuesday, seeking an agreement and negotiations ensued.

"At about 8:30 last night, we agreed to a project labor agreement with the district that ensures skilled union laborers will be used on all district projects for the next seven years and in exchange, no work stoppages will take place during that time, even in the event of a strike," he said.

School board member Terry Fielden said workers from both unions will pick up second and third shifts and work seven days a week to ensure the $87.7 million renovation project is completed on time for the school's scheduled Aug. 25 opening.

Work came to a halt July 1 after the International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 150 and Laborers' District Council of Chicago and Vicinity went on strike. The groups are at odds with Mid-America Regional Bargaining Association and Excavators Inc.

The project at Central, 400 W. Aurora Ave., includes a three-story addition that will house all major subject areas. The 3,000-student school also will get infrastructure upgrades, a new learning resource center, new athletic and music space, improved traffic flow and synthetic turf on its football field.

Officials had explored options such as split shifts at Naperville North High School, petitioning the state Board of Education to delay the opening of classes or even using vacant space at the nearby Alcatel-Lucent campus in Lisle.

Check back at dailyherald.com or read Friday's Daily Herald for more details.

[asmodeus]

Unions will be the undoing of America. Bust ALL of them before it's too late.

[title1parent]

www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=392826&src=76

Dist. 203 explored other options before reaching deal with unions
By Justin Kmitch | Daily Herald 7/8/10

Superintendent Mark Mitrovich said Naperville Unit District 203 officials explored a "multitude" of options in the event a construction strike prevents Naperville Central High School from opening Aug. 25.

Ultimately, though, all the choices were flawed, he said, leaving the district with only one real option: to deal directly with the striking unions to ensure the $87.7 million renovation project is completed on time.

Here are some of the options the district explored and why Mitrovich said they weren't feasible:

• Delaying the start of school past Aug. 25.

"In discussions with the state board of education they indicated to us that they were not prepared to grant us any leeway whatsoever," he said. "They indicated to us that we have been given adequate notice about this situation (and) therefore getting any relief from state statues was not a possibility."

• Temporarily moving students to Naperville North.

"If we would have gone to Naperville North, all we would have done is taken a 3,100-student problem and made it a 6,200-student problem," he said. "That, in the end, was a nice thought but impractical."

• Going to other locations that theoretically would have been large enough to house students, including the Alcatel-Lucent campus in Lisle.

"This would have proven even more problematic because, at the high school level, the number of specialized classrooms we need to carry out a true program would have required a major retrofitting," he said.

[title1parent]

www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=393082&src=76

District 203 tells workers: 'Get it done faster'
By Justin Kmitch | Daily Herald 7/9/2010

For months, the mantra around Naperville Unit District 203's weekly facility subcommittee meetings has been "Get it done fast" when referring to the $87.7 million renovation project at Naperville Central High School.

On Friday, the message was slightly more urgent.

"Basically we met like we do every Friday but this morning we said 'just get it done faster,'" Superintendent Mark Mitrovich said. "We just got an expedited timetable that reflects the workers being on the job on Sundays and working the double shifts."

Mitrovich said the new timetable is separate from, yet a result of, the deal the district brokered Wednesday night with the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150 and the Laborers' District Council of Chicago and Vicinity. That pact exempts the Central project from the labor strike that has crippled hundreds of construction projects across the region in exchange, in part, for a pledge that the district will use union workers on all its projects for the next seven years.

Workers from both unions will pick up second and third shifts and work seven days a week to ensure the necessary summer work on the Central renovation project is completed in time for the school's scheduled Aug. 25 opening.

Mitrovich said he remains confident after Friday's meeting that the school will open on time.

"That's our end date. We're still shooting for it so that's the target," he said. "I think we were always pretty aware of what the challenges were and I feel that the decisions we have made to date will get us where we need to be. And that is having kids in desks on Aug. 25."

The work at Central, 400 W. Aurora Ave., includes a three-story addition that will house all major subject areas. The 3,000-student school also will get infrastructure upgrades, a new learning resource center, new athletic and music space, improved traffic flow and synthetic turf on its football field. It is scheduled for completion in December 2011.

Officials had explored options such as split shifts at Naperville North High School, petitioning the state board of education to delay the opening of classes, or even using vacant space at the nearby Alcatel-Lucent campus in Lisle.

[title1parent]

www.suburbanchicagonews.com/beaconnews/news/ward/2485566,2_4_AU11_WARD_S1-100711.article

Soaring health costs put unions in bind

July 11, 2010

By JEFF WARD For Sun-Times Media Beacon Editorial
You already know I'm not a big fan of labor unions. Historically, I can certainly understand why they became a necessary construct, but too many unions have become the same kind of exploitative organizations they fought so hard to counterbalance for much of the 20th century.

But now our state is on the verge of bankruptcy largely due to union pensions. The United Auto Workers have virtually destroyed the U.S. auto industry. There's tales of CTA bus washers making $50,000 a year -- more than most teachers -- and then we have McCormick Place union work rules slowly killing off Chicago trade shows. Unions once served a vital purpose, but now they just seem to get in the way.

So when Local 150 of the International Union of Operating Engineers (heavy equipment operators) went on strike June 29, right smack in the middle of the worst recession we'll ever see, I thought it might be time to bring the hammer down. When some newspapers reported the union was asking for 5 percent pay raises over each of the next three years, the first question I asked Local 150 spokesperson Ed Maher was, "Are you nuts?"

Maher laughed and replied, "Make no mistake. We know about the tough economy, there is no wage increase in our proposal to MARBRA." The Mid-America Regional Bargaining Association is the entity negotiating on behalf of construction company management. Maher explained the 15 percent increase they're seeking will only go toward shoring up Local 150's sagging health care benefit fund.

You see, in addition to their 40 percent depression level unemployment stats, Local 150 laborers have seen their average hours plunge from 1,600 to 1,000 a year. Add a 12 percent yearly health care cost inflation rate and you have the perfect storm.

"The health care funds are jointly managed by the union and the contractors," Maher explained. "Local 150 members have diverted money to stabilize their benefit fund because they had to. It was a tough decision, but it had to be done. Now we're asking the contractors to do their share." To be specific, over the next three years, Local 150 will add an additional $150 million of their own cash to help offset this shortfall.

This strike boils down to the union's ability to continue to cover retiree and rank-and-file health care costs. In fact, Maher told me, "This is about protecting what we have. This what unions are all about. We fought for these benefits for 40 or 50 years and now they want to take them away from us?"

MARBRA spokesperson Lissa Christman responded, "We do not want to take away what they have. The unions do have Cadillac health care plans, and they deserve them, but in this economy we have to be smart." MARBRA has countered with a total 3.25 percent increase over the next three years.

So it really all comes down to this: Is it wise for any labor union to fight tooth and nail for health care and pension benefits white collar workers gave up any notion of more than two decades ago? Think about it. When unions first negotiated those perks, there was no global economy, life expectancy was shorter and health care costs were a fraction of what they are today.

Maher's response was this, "The spirit of unionism is, just because something might be a challenge, that doesn't mean you don't fight for it. So you better believe we'll fight for those benefits. By going out on strike, our members made a difficult decision to protect what we've fought for for so long."

Now, the day may come when we'll need to discuss Local 150's former president's legal issues, some of their more onerous work rules and a flagger's hourly wage, but none of those things are relevant to this argument. However misguided you or I think they might be, you have to give Local 150 credit for fighting for what they believe in. I've always had a soft spot for those folks willing to tilt at windmills.

The problem is, as Christmann also pointed out, even an increased benefit cost will eventually be passed along to taxpayers at a time we can least afford it. And though I will give the union credit for taking a stand, it might behoove them to remember the United Steelworkers wouldn't budge and the domestic steel industry as they knew it no longer exists.

The Bard said the ultimate question is "to be, or not be." Though this strike may well be settled by the time this column goes to print, at some point Local 150 is going to have to make that tough decision.

With retirees living longer and health care costs rising exponentially, will they be able to hold onto the kind of benefits the rest of us can only dream of?

And if they continue to try, will it mean the end their union? Even Maher agreed, only time will tell.

Jeff Ward can be reached at [e-mail].

[title1parent]

www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=393844&src=76

Dist. 203 treats construction crews to lunch
By Melissa Jenco | Daily Herald 7/14/10

Naperville Unit District 203 provided a free lunch for construction crews Tuesday in hopes of showing its appreciation for striking workers who returned to the job.

The district recently reached a deal with laborers and operating engineers that exempts the $87.7 million renovation at Naperville Central High School from the strike that has crippled hundreds of construction projects across the region.

"I really appreciate it, the fact that ... when I see them working and they're putting their heart and soul into it realizing we need to get this school open for the 25th (of August)," said Ralph Weaver, director of facilities and construction.

Several hundred workers dined on chicken, coleslaw, beans and cookies catered by 5-B's Catering Service.

The district ordered enough food for slightly more than 300 people at a cost of about $3,200.

Weaver said such lunches for workers are built into the project budget. A lunch already was in the works for earlier this month before the strike put plans on hold. He also held one in the spring and expects to have another in August, saying the gesture "goes a long way."

"Morale ... is a very positive force in getting things done and this shows the cooperation of the district," he said.

The district not only is hoping to get things done but to do so in a hurry. Work at Naperville Central came to a halt July 1 when the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150 and Laborers' District Council of Chicago and Vicinity went on strike.

The unions are at odds over pay and benefits with the Mid-America Regional Bargaining Association and Excavators Inc.

District officials feared the stoppage would mean work wouldn't be done in time to get students back into the building by the start of school on Aug. 25. Last week, they brokered a deal with the unions to exempt Central from the strike in exchange for the district promising to use skilled union laborers for the next seven years.

The deal will be formally voted on by the school board Monday. To make up for lost time, workers are on site seven days a week and picking up second and third shifts.

Ed Maher, spokesman for the operating engineers, said crews are happy to be back to work and appreciate Tuesday's lunch as well.

"It's a good show of faith by the school," Maher said. "Certainly the workers who were picketing endured a great deal of grief from people during Ribfest so I think it's a nice show of appreciation by the school district for the members coming back to work."

The work at Central, 440 W. Aurora Ave., includes a three-story addition that will house all major subject areas. The 3,000-student school also will get infrastructure upgrades, a new learning resource center, new athletic and music space, improved traffic flow and synthetic turn on its football field.

The entire project is scheduled to wrap up by December 2011.