LANSING, MI (WKZO AM/FM) — Union construction workers are getting back to work.
In a statement on Thursday Governor Rick Snyder announced that “Work will begin on Michigan’s road projects immediately now that the contractors’ association and operating engineers’ union has agreed to continue working without a contract through the 2018 construction season.”
This means non-union workers will no longer be needed for projects like South Westnedge in Portage.
About 150 road projects were halted for about a month due to labor disputes between the Michigan Infrastructure and Transportation Association and Operating Engineers Local 324.
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PORTAGE, MI (WKZO AM/FM) — The City of Portage has announced that work has resumed on the South Westnedge reconstruction project and should be completed by next week.
The contractor on the job has apparently brought in non-union workers from Indiana to finish the project after a labor impasse between contractors and heavy machine operators locked the union members off 150 job sites state wide.
They had been working at night to minimize the disruption of traffic but they need the heat of the day now to get a good surface.
Portage City Manager Lawrence Shaffer says they are remaining neutral on whether the workers who finish the Westnedge roadwork are union or non-union, they just want the project done for safety sake.
But not everyone feels that way.
Dan McKernan with the Operating Engineers says it verifies that the contractors are out to bust the union.
Mike Nystrom with the contractors says they may be able to finish projects that were almost done, but not all of them.
It’s not clear how much more it’s going to cost and whether the quality they get will be what they paid for.
There are half a dozen other projects in Kalamazoo and 9 in Calhoun County that have come to a stop because of the labor dispute.
