Work stoppage could threaten start of Naperville C

[asmodeus]

Certainly the workers who were picketing endured a great deal of grief from people during Ribfest

Endured? They asked for it!

It's amazing that even after making concessions to these extortionists, we feel the need to buy them lunch. It's almost like we're the ones apologizing for the whole thing.

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www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=394210&src=76

Construction delay costly for District 203
Union workers having trouble obtaining building materials
By Melissa Jenco | Daily Herald 7/15/2010

Construction crews may be back to work at Naperville Central High School, but the weeklong delay due to a labor strike is likely to cost the district at least $500,000.

Naperville Unit District 203 officials say they will pay the additional cost with contingencies built into the budget for the $87.7 million renovation to the school. Despite work having resumed, there are still hurdles to cross in getting the project done.

Work 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.

A week after the strike began, the district reached a deal with the unions that exempts the Naperville Central renovation. Work at the school resumed despite hundreds of other projects around the region remaining stalled.

Crews are on now on site seven days a week working both first and second shifts to try to get the work done before school begins Aug. 25.

"The progress is substantial," school board member Terry Fielden said during a facilities subcommittee meeting Wednesday. "The progress is very visible."

Tim Bickert, project manager with IHC Construction Companies, said it is too soon to know exactly how much it will cost to make up for the weeklong delay. However, $500,000 is how much the district expected to save when it gained an extra week of construction by deciding this past winter to push the start of school back to Aug. 25.

"With having that disruption thrown in in the middle of the job, it's reasonable that lost time could equate to that much or more," Bickert said.

Board member Susan Crotty said the district did not cause the disruption and asked whose pocket the money would come from.

"If you want to get done, the school has to pay for it," Bickert told her.

Fielden said the board needs a more firm cost estimate. However, he expects the district has enough of a contingency built into the budget to cover it.

Even though construction crews are back to work at Central, the project isn't necessarily in the clear. Fellow union workers are still on strike, which has made it difficult for workers at Central to obtain some of the equipment and materials they need to get the job done. Laborers would have to cross picket lines to procure these things from off site.

Fielden challenged their reluctance to do so.

"That's in contrary to the agreement (with the unions) which says very explicitly that we'll work in harmony to reduce the overall cost of the project," he said.

Officials plan to talk to the unions about making equipment and materials available while the strike is ongoing. Cranes and asphalt are among their biggest concerns.

Ongoing construction also will affect fall sports teams that will soon start to practice. Ralph Weaver, director of facilities and construction, said the football teams will be able to access the field but not the weight room. The field house and pool also will not be available. Weaver has advised teams to find alternate locations at which to practice this summer.

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 turf on its football field.

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

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www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=394411&src=

Put shovels, cranes back to work now
Daily Herald Editorial 7/16/2010

In the realm of instant gratification, it's been sweet to commute to work each morning lately without having to maneuver around flaggers or stop for the crane jutting into the road.

But it's time to take the long view. It's not going to seem so sweet in late November if someone is hurt because they started sliding on black ice and ended up 3 feet down in the dirt of a carved-up road project. It's not going to seem sweet in another few weeks if school sports are disrupted and school openings are delayed because of the ongoing construction workers' strike.

And so we call for an earnest effort from all to get this construction workers' strike resolved.

Now in its third week, the strike has stalled most roadwork in Illinois and there has been little negotiating this week. Talks are set for Monday between the Mid-America Regional Bargaining Association and the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150.

Interestingly, a tentative deal was reached Wednesday giving workers a 3.25 percent raise between the unions and 450 smaller contractors in the Chicago Area Independent Contractors Association. Three suburban school districts also were able to cut side deals to get their work going again at Park Ridge-Niles Elementary District 64, DuPage High School District 88 and Naperville Unit District 203. School district officials cut a deal to resume work by promising to use union labor for five to 10 years, depending on the district.

But it should be noted that even with the cranes revved and running in those districts, there is an extra cost to the strike. District 203 officials said the week's delay likely will cost taxpayers at least $500,000. "It's reasonable that lost time could equate to that much or more," Tim Bickert, project manager for IHC Construction Companies, told board members. "If you want to get done, the school has to pay for it."

In another irony, at least some of the stalled work was being funded by federal tax dollars meant to stimulate the economy and, yes, put people back to work. Indeed, contractors, unions and others have been clamoring for funding for years to rebuild our crumbling infrastructure in Illinois. It seems unwise to waste precious time and funding now.

We certainly do appreciate the dangerous and difficult work done by engineers, often in extreme weather conditions. The work stoppage helps us all to remember just how important is their work. But we also empathize with those who are questioning the logic of a strike while so many among us still are unemployed, underemployed or working extra hours or extra jobs to make ends meet and pay our taxes.

The longer this work stoppage lasts, the greater the resentment will grow in the court of public perception. We urge all parties to keep at and reach a resolution as quickly as possible.

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www.suburbanchicagonews.com/napervillesun/news/2502498,4_1_JO16_STRIKE_S1-100716.article

Negotiators agree to tentative deal

July 16, 2010

By CINDY WOJDYLA CAIN [e-mail]
A strike by area union workers has taken a twist.

Negotiators for union operating engineers and laborers agreed Wednesday to a tentative three-year agreement with the Chicago Area Independent Contractors Association. The group is one of four associations that bargains on behalf of employers in the Chicago area.

The pact, if ratified, will provide a 3.25 percent compensation increase per year to cover increasing health care and benefit costs, according to a press release from International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150. No date has been set for the union vote on the new contract with CAICA.

CAICA represents more than 450 employers, but Jim Sweeney, president and business manager of Local 150, estimated that 1,300 independent contractors could sign on to the deal.

The strike erupted in late June when Local 150 and members of Laborers' District Council of Chicago failed to reach a new three-year deal with the Mid-America Regional Bargaining Association. Members of MARBA will not be able to sign onto the CAICA, explained Local 150 spokesman Ed Maher. But many other contractors who are only represented by MARBA, and are not members, can switch.

Maher said the Local 150 headquarters in Countryside had a steady stream of contractors coming in Thursday who were switching to the CAICA deal.

MARBA issued a press release saying the CAICA agreement will not affect its ongoing negotiations with the unions.

MARBA called on the unions to make the same kinds of "adjustments" to their lifestyle that many non-union workers have made in the recession.

But union officials maintain their request for more money toward benefits, not salary, is reasonable. Agreements comparable to what the unions are asking of MARBA have been approved in Peoria, the Quad Cities, Northwest Indiana and Northern Illinois, according to Local 150 officials. The strike has stalled a wide variety of projects in the region including construction of the new Silver Cross Hospital in New Lenox, widening of Route 59, improvements to 159th street in Lockport, and repairs to the Empress Casino in Joliet.

Maher said the CAICA deal could lead to some union members going back to work. But some projects have so many contractors involved that if even one is striking MARBA none will resume work on that particular project.

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www.suburbanchicagonews.com/napervillesun/news/2513158,6_1_NA20_D203_S1-100720.article

D203 board approves deal with union
District says it will closely scrutinize overtime claims
July 20, 2010

By KATHY CICHON [e-mail]
Naperville School District 203 had no other option but to reach an agreement with unions for work to continue at Naperville Central High School. The costs otherwise, district officials said, would be too great.

"If we hadn't had this agreement right now, we'd be talking about what it would like to start school in October, the cost of relocating 3,000 students," board President Mike Jaensch said. "And we've managed to avert that and a huge cost, both financial and educational, to our community."

The board of education formally approved a project labor agreement with the DuPage Building and Construction Trades Council that allows work to continue. Although the agreement was signed Monday, it had been in place since July 7.

Ken Flourey, attorney for the school district, said the agreement is the best option for the district to eliminate the risk of the job being shut down and school not opening on time.

"It's the best balance between the interest of the school and the interest of the unions," Flourey said.

Work on the $87.7 million renovation project came to a halt at the beginning of this month as a result of the labor strike by International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150. The Project Labor Agreement allows striking workers to return to the job at Naperville Central and provides for other trades, including the Laborers' District Council of Chicago and Vicinity, to do the same.

According to the agreement, all District 203 construction through 2017 will be done by unions. The union workers, in turn, vow not to strike on those projects during that time.

Only one person spoke about the agreement during public comment at Monday's meeting. Marc Poulos, executive director of the Indiana, Illinois and Iowa Foundation for Fair Contracting, supported the deal.

"I think there's a misconception ... that unions have strong-armed the board into coming to some type of agreement," he said. "But nothing could be further from the truth. I think two parties came together to resolve a situation that was imminent and needed to get the kids back to school on time. And I think this agreement was reasonable."

The unions, he said, did not strong arm the district because they "gave up their strongest economic weapon, which is the strike."

All school board members voted in favor of the agreement, with the exception of Dave Weeks, who abstained from the vote. Weeks said the district did the best it could in a bad situation.

"I will take issue, Mr. Poulos, the unions did put a gun to our head," Weeks said. "And by your own admission, their strongest ammunition is a strike. And they did strike. They struck where it would hurt. To slice it any other way would be wrong."

Flourey said because of prevailing wages in Illinois, those who would work on any district projects would be paid about the same as those represented by a collective bargaining agreement.

"You're going to see the workers get paid for your jobs the same rate whether they're union or non-union," Flourey.

Since work resumed, construction crews have been working seven days a week to get the project finished by the Aug. 25 start of school. However, the project is still expected to finish within the budget, Superintendent Mark Mitrovich said.

The district's attorney will retain a claims adjuster who's a professional engineer to evaluate overtime, he said.

"Any claims for any overtime, any adjustments, will all be scrutinized against the prevailing contracts and work schedules so that there's a third party who reviews it," Mitrovich said.

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www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=395296&src=76

District 203 breathing easier after apparent union agreement
By Melissa Jenco | Daily Herald 7/21/2010
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Naperville Unit District 203 officials are breathing a sigh of relief that an end appears imminent to a construction strike that affected hundreds of projects across the region.

While the district had just inked a deal Monday keeping union workers on the job at Naperville Central High School, there was a danger of not getting materials and equipment for the $87.7 million renovation project while other workers still were on strike.

"Now that the strike is (potentially) over, that aspect is completely eliminated and we will be able to get our hands on what we need to finish the project," school board member Terry Fielden said.

It still is possible, however, that the district may face delays in obtaining some materials due to a backlog of requests, but he hopes that will be nothing more than a small hiccup.

Work on Central's renovation 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.

A week into the strike, the district reached a verbal deal with the unions exempting the Central project and work at the school resumed.

In exchange, the district agreed to use union labor on any projects it contracts out for the next seven years. During that time no work stoppages would occur even in the event of a strike.

Ralph Weaver, director of facilities and construction, told the school board most bids in the district already are done by union labor and he doesn't expect to receive any fewer bids.

The school board formally signed off on the agreement Monday. The same night, after nine hours of negotiations, the unions reached a tentative agreement with Mid-America Regional Bargaining Association and Excavators Inc.

Fielden said there was no indication before the school board meeting that the unions would reach a deal with the contractors that night but the district already had committed to its own agreement with the workers regardless.

He said pursuing such a pact was the right choice for a project in which every day is crucial toward getting the work done in time for school to start Aug. 25. Because of the pact, the district lost just one week of work instead of three.

"When you're talking about that kind of volume and money there's no way you can make that up, so for us that was the best option," he said.

Crews are now working extra shifts to make up for the week they lost. The construction manager for the Central project has estimated the weeklong delay caused by the strike could cost $500,000 but officials are still trying to get a more firm number. They plan to have a claims adjuster review any additional costs.

Work at the school, 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 turf on its football field.

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

[asmodeus]

Seems like D203 got bamboozled on this.

They make a side deal with the union to get them back on the job, only to find that materials are unavailable due to the strike. Then, before the ink is dry on their side deal, the strike is resolved.

What a debacle...these unions MUST BE BUSTED.

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www.suburbanchicagonews.com/napervillesun/news/schools/2570944,6_1_NA06_CENTRAL_S1-100806.article

D203 facing tight deadines with science labs
August 6, 2010

By KATHY CICHON [e-mail]
Editor's note: A headline in Friday's Naperville Sun said some Central science classes may have to shift to North. The superintendent said science classes within North may have to shift to other rooms.

The have just about everything except the science lab sink.

Make that sinks.

As the clock continues counting down toward the Aug. 25 start of school in Naperville District 203, the eight new science labs under construction at Naperville Central High School are awaiting the arrival of the counter tops -- which include the sinks. Science labs at Naperville North High School, which are also being renovated, await their shipment as well.

During a meeting of District 203's Facilities Committee on Thursday, district officials said they were disappointed the lab materials had yet to arrive as planned.

"Unless there's a reason why I shouldn't have my science lab open on the first day of school... then I want to hear that reason," said board member Terry Fielden, who chairs the Facilities Committee. "Otherwise, I would expect (the company) to pick up the overtime for that plumber to work around the clock to get those rooms online."

While last week the manufacturer quoted a delivery date of Aug. 20, it now will split the delivery in half, said Tim Bickert, senior project manager with IHC Construction Companies

"They're splitting the order and planning on having half the tops on the 13th and the remainder on the 20th or sooner," Bickert said.

The problem, he said, is manufacturers are overwhelmed with work loads.

"It's something we're hearing from manufacturers with the economy ... A lot of the manufacturers had scaled back, and they don't run multiple shifts, and they laid people off," he said.

Once the counter tops/sinks arrive, it could take two to three weeks to install all of them and connect to the necessary utility lines, Fielden said.

"It's actually a lot of work," Fielden said. "Each sink probably takes about four hours to install."

But district officials already are wondering if the science labs will be ready for students when school starts.

"We're already anticipating having to shift classes at North," Superintendent Mark Mitrovich said.

If the labs are not ready, the students will have to meet in an alternative classroom, he said.

If the counters/sinks are not installed by Aug. 25, access to the labs to complete the work will be a challenge, Fielden said.

"They'll have to do it after school hours," he said.

Other than the concerns about the science labs, the $87.7 million renovation project at Naperville Central is progressing on time, Mitrovich said.

"The overall feeling of where we were three weeks ago is significantly improved," he said. "I think what you saw was a real buy-in by the contractors and the guys on the site. They knew we were under the gun and they worked like crazy to get us caught up to schedule.

So far there is no estimate of the additional costs for overtime needed as a result of the recent strike by construction workers throughout the Chicago area. The district lost one week of construction work before it reached a deal with unions to bring workers back to the job.

Mitrovich said the district's construction attorney has retained a specialist, so all claims for overtime will be reviewed by a professional engineer.

"There is a lot of diligence in terms of paying for only those things that were truly beyond the scope of what was originally planned," Mitrovich said.

No overtime bills will be paid until the engineer reviews it, he said.

"He is extremely adept at holding people's feet to the fire," Mitrovich said.

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www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=400053&src=76

Much of remaining work at Naperville Central in the details
By Justin Kmitch | Daily Herald 8/12/2010

With the doors to a renovated Naperville Central due to open in two weeks, district and construction officials say they've shifted their attention to the project's final details.

The school will be safe and ready for students by the Aug. 25 deadline, officials said Wednesday, but several loose ends remain, including preparation of the Learning Resource Center, installation of several science lab counters and installation of the roof over the music department wing.

"We're trying to get to the fine-tuning and settling on, 'OK, what are we not going to have?'" said Terry Fielden, chairman of the Naperville Unit District 203 school board's facilities subcommittee. "In a project of this magnitude, there's always going to be something that's left undone because it's moving very fast. So we need to get through that."

Specifically, Fielden said he expects the unfinished LRC to be a distraction.

"There's a factor of bringing all these rooms online that's still a disruption," he said. "In your own work space, if you have something that's undone or doesn't work, that's a distraction. It's human nature."

On the flip side, however, director of facilities and construction Ralph Weaver said he's now anticipating a majority of the school's eight science labs to be complete after manufacturers agreed to rush the resin countertops that were holding up completion.

"We'll have most of it in but there may be just a little bit not totally done," Weaver said. "We're installing the countertops just as fast as we get them, so I anticipate only a few pieces may not be ready."

Weaver said students also are likely to notice some construction as a roof continues to be installed over the new music department wing.

"But that won't be nearly as loud or as much of a distraction as the loud noise the students endured last year," Weaver said.

While that work continues and the completion rate is estimated at 90 percent to 92 percent, Superintendent Mark Mitrovich said crews are now checking for last minute electrical and lighting issues.

"There's going to be problems with the building. You're going to plug something in and a circuit's going to fail," Fielden said. "We've got 1,500 new lights in the building and a certain percentage of those are going to fail within the first 30 days. Those are normal expectations. That's just life."

In all, the project 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 turf on its football field. The entire project is scheduled to wrap up by December 2011.

Following Wednesday's update meeting, the district hosted a lunch for the roughly 300 workers on site and surprised them with white T-shirts that read "I helped build a student's future" across the back.

"That type of thing is built into the budget and it's just a way of acknowledging what they're doing out there," Mitrovich said. "If we keep them happy, that just turns out a better work product for us for just a small investment of a hamburger or hot dog and a T-shirt."

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www.suburbanchicagonews.com/napervillesun/news/2614550,6_NA18_Central-construction-track-finish-time.article

Central construction on track to finish on time
August 19, 2010

By KATHY CICHON [e-mail]
With less than a week to go before school starts, work crews at Naperville Central High School are gearing up for the home stretch.

While construction crews continue to work extra shifts, custodians from throughout District 203 are helping to ensure the building is ready when classes start next Wednesday.

"As far as the custodial staff, there's probably about 20 guys working today, we got a heavy second shift. We'll be moving to all three shifts next week," said Ralph Weaver, director of facilities and construction for the district, on Wednesday. "Our big push will be Friday and Saturday. We're looking into getting an outside company hiring anywhere from 20 to 30 people, bringing them in with their equipment and our big sweep will be those two days."

Crews are moving furniture where possible, he said. And in some instances, such as the science labs, certain fragile supplies will be moved in after classes begin.

"A lot of that, chemicals and microscopes, we're waiting until after school starts. We want the teachers to get settled, get the dust down a little bit, figuratively speaking, not physically speaking," Weaver said. "And that way we can bring in these chemicals and microscopes and these finer objects after they have gotten their every day regular classroom furniture set."

Naperville Central is in the middle of an $87.7 million renovation project that includes approximately 170,000 square feet of new construction and 370,000 square feet of renovation. Work began last May and is scheduled for completion by the end of 2011.

Throughout the last few weeks, between 250 and 300 people have been on site, working to get the building ready for the Aug. 25 start of classes. Since the strike last month by construction workers, crews have been on site seven days a week to ensure the school opens on time. And since work on the campus will continue throughout the school year, the District 203 Facilities Sub-Committee reviewed security procedures Wednesday morning that have been put in place for the duration of the project.

"Everybody that's on site has to go through a background check," said Tim Bickert, senior project manager with IHC Construction Companies. "That's held true through the summer and certainly through the start of school."

Construction workers are not allowed in the school building during school hours, he said.

"So the kids and the workers don't criss-cross, except for on rare occasion?" board member Susan Crotty said.

Bickert said there might be an occasional plumber or electrician who has been authorized to come to take care of punch list items or troubleshoot any issues that might come up.

"They have to check in with (the manager) and he gives them a special pass to be within the building," Weaver said.

Workers also have them sign in at the front desk, he said.

"We run through some special processes before they inter-mingle," Weaver said. "And again they're not to use the same bathrooms. They're to use the Port-O-Potties."

Crews are also reminded not to interact with those in the building, he said.

"Every meeting, Tim (Bickert) mentions you are not to talk to students, faculty and parents. You are to just do your job. ... We stress that at every meeting."

Committee members suggested workers wear a specific color T-shirt or vest while in the building to help identify them.

Crews are in the last stages of most of the renovations, Bickert said.

"We're at the stage already where I feel comfortable school is going to open. That's not an issue," Bickert said. "Now it's what things might be an inconvenience."

For instance, the bleachers in the auxiliary gym might not be ready, he said. Officials have said books and materials will not be back on the shelves in the Learning Resource Center by Wednesday, and one of the stairwells will remain closed until the railing is delivered and installed.

"On the whole we'll be ready for you guys on the 25th. For the kids," Weaver said.

Officials asked if the school will be ready for student orientations scheduled for Monday and Tuesday. Students will have a chance to familiarize themselves with the new building and locate their classrooms before the first day of class.

"They won't be in a perfect environment, but they'll be in a workable environment," Weaver said.

Soon the Facilities Sub-Committee will begin meeting twice a month. One meeting will be in open session to discuss status updates and issues, while the other meeting will be in closed session to review overtime claims, said Terry Fielden, who chairs the facilities committee.

"The delay claims become a litigious aspect, it's a legitimate closed session," Fielden said.

The district's attorney is hiring a claims adjuster who is a professional engineer to review all claims for overtime.

"We'll actually start closed session meetings to meet with the attorney and consultant to look at the pending delay claims and report back to the full board," Fielden said.

[WeNeed3]

Has anyone driven by Central lately? It is a disaster area on the outside. I sure hope things are more organized on the inside for these kids. I can't imagine another year and a half of that! They must have lost a ton of parking spaces too.