In the course of a week, we are all involved in numerous situations that require negotiation at work, at home, and at recreation.

Few of us enjoy dealing with conflict - with bosses, peers, subordinates, friends, strangers and especially Unions. This is particularly true when the conflict becomes hostile and strong feelings are involved. Resolving conflict can be mentally exhausting and emotionally draining.

But it is important to realize that conflict that requires resolution is neither good nor bad. There can be positive and negative outcomes. The important point is to manage the conflict, not to suppress conflict and not to let conflict escalate out of control

MARBA is currently involved in such a conflict. Our negotiators are currently working with the Operating Engineers Local 150 to establish a contract that both labor and management can agree upon. While a strategy might be to talk “strike”, that would serve no one. In a successful negotiation, everyone wins. The objective should be agreement, not victory. I feel that negotiations tend to go much better if both sides perceive they are in a win-win situation or both sides approach the negotiation wanting to satisfy both their own needs and the other's needs.

Acme Refining Co.
3357 So. Justine
Chicago, IL 60089
        Phone: (773) 523-4500
        Fax: (773) 523-9502 
ASSOCIATE
      William Kramer, Ferrous Sales Manager
Scrap metal recycler.
Sponsor: Mike DeNinno, Lake County Grading Co.

B & B Permanent Seeding
21402 West Highway 60
Mundelein, IL 60060
        Phone: (847) 566-8277
        Fax: (847) 566-5825
CONTRACTOR
      Dan Beelow, Owner
Trucking company.
Sponsor: Tiffany White, Berger Excavating Contractors

F & A Construction Equipment
2024 Rt. 176
Crystal Lake, IL 60014
        Phone: (847) 307-9898
        Fax: (847) 459-1005
SUPPLIER
      Fred Voytovich, Owner
Supplier of chains, generators, pumps, compressors, slings, blades, trench boxes.
Sponsor: Tiffany White, Berger Excavating Contractors

Smith Engineering Consultants
4500 Prime Parkway
McHenry, IL 60050
        Phone: (815) 385-1778
        Fax: (815) 385-1781
ASSOCIATE 
      Timothy Hartnett, Exec. Vice President
Engineering, Surveying, Planning and Automation.
Sponsor: Char Manusos, Manusos General Contracting

Milt Sees, the Acting Secretary of Transportation, will be visiting with the LCCA Board of Governor’s on June 7 to discuss the Governors tax policies and what is in the planning for IDOT. A licensed, professional engineer, Secretary Sees joined IDOT in 2006 as the Director of Highways. Previously he served as General Manager of Crisp Container Company and Vice President of Southern Illinois Concrete Products. He also served as President and Chief Lobbyist for North American Wire Reinforcement Institute and Executive Director of the Illinois Concrete Pipe Association.

High on our agenda will be Lake County Transportation needs. And while the Secretary may not be the last word on what projects are funded, it is nice to know he knows we exist when decisions are being made.

Golf Outing Chair, Scott Nelson, H.H. Holmes Testing, reports, “We have made a couple more improvements this year: the morning shotgun will start will at 7:00 am and our afternoon shotgun will begin at 1:30 pm. The new times will allow morning and afternoon golfers to share lunch from noon until 1:00 pm. Lunch will feature our program including door prize drawings and the drawing for the 50-50 Raffle. Golfers just need to decide whether they want to golf in the morning or the afternoon.”

Following the afternoon round, we will be offering light hors d’oeuvres and drinks to those who want to hang around and talk about the awesome round of golf they just played. All golf prizes (low net, closest to the pin, etc.) will be announced at the September Membership Meeting. Look for registration information in mid-June.

Starting at 6:00 pm, the evening will feature a one-hour hosted cocktail hour, followed by a wonderful dinner and wine. Program Committee Chair Mike Ryan, H.H. Holmes Testing, explains, “The program will include a celebration of LCCA’s 60^th Anniversary and LCCA’s Annual Awards followed by Las Vegas-style entertainer Vito Zato. All at the beautiful Ivanhoe Club. This is the must attend event of the year!”

Ticket prices will be approximately $140 per person and the dress code will be elegant business. Please keep in mind that this event will take the place of LCCA’s Annual Awards Dinner and the Holiday Party.

If adopted, the system will provide appropriate confidentiality among contractors while providing contracting agencies the ability to better monitor compliance. The program will also immediately warn the contractor of misclassified or underpaid employees. Better to correct errors when made rather than when the audit comes months later.

Laborers Rate Prevailing For Landscape Work – The Illinois Appeals Court has ruled that the Prevailing Rates paid for Landscape Work will be the Laborers rate and not the rates negotiated by the Illinois Landscape Contractors Association (ILCA) with Operating Engineers Local 150 and Teamsters Local 703. This rate will apply to all prevailing wage work in Illinois.

In 2004, the ILCA negotiated rates substantially lower than Laborers for landscape work. But when they petitioned the Illinois Department of Labor to create a new classification for landscape work and have their negotiated wages classified as the “prevailing wage”, the Department denied the petition. Since then the case has been appealed to the Circuit Court in DuPage which upheld the Administrative Law Judge’s ruling and finally to the Illinois Appeals Court.

In a related case, a group of Landscape Contractors filed suit in Federal Court claiming that Art Ludwig, then director of the Illinois Department of Labor, had deprived them of their constitutional rights for due process and equal protection for not approving the new classification. This was considered in U.S. District Court and also dismissed.

The bottom line – don’t guess on the prevailing wage. Currently the “prevailing rate” for Laborers in Lake County is $31.55 in wages plus $12.47 in benefits. To check the Prevailing wage for any county, go to www.state.il.us/agency/idol. Click on “Prevailing Rates”, select month/year and the county for the latest rates.

Operators Getting Ready For Strike – IUOE 150 President Bill Dugan recently told all Operators, “If we do not get a contract proposal from Management that is acceptable to the Membership, then we will be on strike probably beginning on July 1.” He goes on to urge “every Local 150 member to prepare themselves for the prospect of a strike: get as many hours as possible, wait to buy the new truck, put off the remodeling”. All good advice to his members - and to contractors also. Unfortunately, what Local 150 deems as “acceptable” and what MARBA will be willing to agree to may be far apart. If it was just a matter of agreeing to their proposal, we would not call it negotiations.

Mr. Dugan does say he is cautiously optimistic that the negotiations with MARBA and Excavators can come to a successful conclusion in a timely manner. In fact, the last time the Operators struck was during the 1987 negotiations with MARBA for a Building Agreement. The strike did not last long! Hopefully this year it will not even start.

• Justin Martin – Lake Zurich High School
• Kevin Kurtz – Johnsburg High School
• Michael Anstedt – Lake Zurich High School
• John Grant – Grayslake Central High School

The awards are presented annually by LCCA to the top seniors in the class. Students are not only judged on their skill with the tools, but also their attitude and dependability – traits we look for in construction.

Due to the Carpenters Apprentice Program schedule, carpenter apprentices will be forced to wait until sometime in July to start their 9-Week Pre-Apprentice Training. After successfully completing the Pre-Apprentice Course, they will be sent to contractors to start their careers, returning to the Apprentice School one week every quarter for four years.

The Laborers have an easier road. Their first stop after being hired will be a visit to the Laborers Training and Apprentice Center in Carol Stream to take a written and drug test and an interview. After successfully completing this step, they will return to their employer and, like the carpenters, return one week every quarter for training. Unlike the Carpenters, the Laborers Apprentice Program is only 2 years in duration.

The 6^th Annual Career Expo, co-sponsored by CISCO and LCCA, hosted 400 8^th graders on May 8^th and 9^th at the Lake County Fair Grounds. This year students came from Lake Zurich, Waukegan, Winthrop Harbor, Ingleside, North Chicago, Antioch and Lake Villa.

Apprenticeship programs participating included: Carpenters, Laborers, Roofers, Bricklayers, Plumbers, Electricians, Sheetmetal Workers, the Chicagoland Construction Safety Council and the Lake County Tech Campus Building Trades Program.

Students had a great introduction to the construction trades and enjoyed themselves because they learned hands-on how to build tool boxes, operate a jack hammer, lay brick, bend pipe, fix a sink and much more.

Lake County accounted for almost $1.5 billion (8.3%) of the areas construction volume. As you might expect, Residential construction led the way here accounting for almost $1 billion of the volume.

For those contractors looking to tap the southern Wisconsin Market (the dollars are always greener across the state line), think twice. Total construction volume in Kenosha and Racine Counties in 2006 was just $630 million with only $280 million in Non-Residential Construction.

Where is the market going? Timing of contracts is everything, but it is interesting to note that for the first four months in 2007, Lake County is already over $660 million for the year which is 75% ahead of the same period a year ago! The Chicago area is flat with almost no change for the first four months. Southern Wisconsin is running about 14% ahead of last year.

Hopefully the pace of bidding will continue to be strong and we hope that when the project sign goes up – it will be an LCCA Member doing the work.

• The Carnegie Library on the northeast corner of Washington Street and Sheridan Road, will be acquired by the city and $1 million is being proposed to renovate it for a mix of uses. Funding for the project will come from the 1 percent sales tax passed in 2002 to finance redevelopment efforts.
  
• The former Wendy's fast-food restaurant on the southwest corner of Grand Avenue and Sheridan, will be redeveloped into a 3,800-square-foot sit-down restaurant and bar called Black Jack's. The owner of the seafood eatery will be operated by restaurateur Jack Dolio, who is also behind the new Jack's on the Park under construction across from the Genesee Theatre.
  
• The Marquette Place project, after meeting 50 percent of its pre-sale goals, is set to proceed with groundbreaking for its 70-unit first phase on the southwest corner of Washington and Sheridan this summer.

On the drawing board is a new 13-story, 245-unit apartment-to-condo complex proposed on the site of the former News-Sun building on Sheridan. In addition, an announcement of new developments at Fountain Square of Waukegan is expected to come forward within the next 30 days. Ground is scheduled to be broken this summer for the development's Holiday Inn Express, Spring Hill Suites, Office Max and Buffalo Wild Wings. Mayor Hyde rightly noted that Waukegan is past the crawling stage – while not yet ready to run, we are finally walking. Good news for contractors.

Buffalo Grove Projects Moving – The Buffalo Grove Plan Commission has been reviewing the proposed Berenesa Plaza at the corner of Deerfield Road and Milwaukee. The development would include a bank, hotel, medical building and retail.

In addition, the city is also working to annex 60 acres on the border with Lincolnshire. If this goes through, you can expect another major development on Milwaukee Avenue. (Daily Herald, May 19, 2007)
 
Lake Zurich Kmart Site Proposal – Trading Alliance Group is proposing placement of a 7-story, 430,000 sq. building on the vacant Kmart site on Rt. 12. The proposal includes an underground parking garage, hotel, restaurants, retail spaces and convention center. Village officials are not sold on a high rise but negotiations are just starting. (News Sun, May 17, 2007)

The Abbott Supplier Excellence Awards program began in 1991 and utilizes an assessment process that combines performance data along with feedback from internal stakeholders. The program identifies Abbott’s highest performing suppliers by assessing performance in the categories of logistics, quality, service, cost leadership and process improvement. Congratulations to both companies!