Memorandum of Agreement


    This memorandum of agreement is made by and between the Mid-America Regional Bargaining Association ("MARBA"), for and on behalf of the Builders' Association of Greater Chicago, the Mason Contractors Association of Greater Chicago, the Lake County Contractors Association, the Illinois Road Builders Association, the Underground Contractors Association, and the Fox Valley General Contractors Association (collectively, the "Employers") and the Construction and General Laborers' District Council of Chicago and Vicinity, for and on behalf of its affiliated Local Unions Nos. 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 25, 75, 76, 96, 118, 149, 152, 225, 269, 288, 582, 681, 1001, 1006, 1035 and 1092 (collectively, the "Union").

 The parties hereby extend the labor agreements known as the Building Agreement, the Road Building Agreement, the Sewer and Tunnel Agreement (or Underground Agreement), the Fox Valley Building Agreement, and the Fox Valley Highway Agreement for five (5) years, until May 31, 2006, and all dates contained therein, except as modified below:

 1) SHIFT WORK

    Employees shall receive eight (8) hours pay under this section even if they are permitted to leave after seven and one-half (7-1/2) hours and it shall be a violation of this agreement if an employee does not receive eight (8) hours pay. Employees who work eight (8) hours on a shift without receiving a one-half hour lunch shall receive, in addition to the eight (8) hours pay as provided in this Section, one (1) hour's pay at the applicable premium rate.
    Add the following sentence to (bold is added) Building Agreement-Article 3, end of paragraph 4:

     Employees who work one of two twelve (12) hour shifts without receiving a one-half hour lunch shall receive, in addition to the twelve (12) hours pay as provided in this Section, one-half hour's pay at the applicable premium rate.

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Road Building Agreement-add to end of Article 10: 
Underground Agreement-add to end of Article 9:

    When it is necessary that the contractor use more than one shift for a period of three (3) or more consecutive days, the Union shall be notified twenty-four (24) hours in advance of the effective date of the starting of such multiple shift operations.

2)     CLASSIFICATIONS & WORK JURISDICTION

     In all five Agreements, the premium pay for all types of Foreman shall be increased twenty-five cents ($0.25) over the existing premium pay rate. For example, if a Foreman is currently listed at fifty cents ($0.50) over standard rate, then the new rate shall be seventy-five cents ($0.75) over standard rate.

Building Agreement, Article 8, add to last sentence in classification: 
Fox Valley Building, Article 9, add to last sentence in classification:

    Building labor foreman, general foreman and superintendent shall receive fifty cents ($0.50) premium wages over and above top Laborers Scale under his supervision.

    Road Building Agreement, Article 4, classifications:

    General foreman of Laborers- shall have listed wage rate of $24.675 (as of 6/1/98) to be adjusted for 2001 rates. Superintendent -parentheses shall be removed and set at the same rate.

Underground Agreement, Article 5, paragraph 2:

Two classifications to be added:

General Foreman $24.70 (as of 6/1/98) to be adjusted for 2001 rates:
Superintendent $24.70 (as of 6/1/98) to be equally adjusted for 2001 rates

Fox Valley Highway, Article 6, section 2:

Two classifications to be added:
General Foreman $23.85 (as of 6/1/98) to be adjusted for 2001 rates:
Superintendent $23.85 (as of 6/1/98) to be equally adjusted for 2001 rates
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    Landscaping Laborer classifications shall be deleted from Fox Valley Building and Fox Valley Highway agreements.

    Building Agreement-Article 8

    Fireproofing shall be increased ten cents ($0.10) per how to regular scale pay

    Building Agreement. Article XVII, Delete all of the first paragraph of Paragraph 4(b), including caption. Renumber Paragraph 4(a) as 4.

    Road Building Agreement. Article XII. Delete all of the first paragraph of Paragraph 9(b), including caption. Renumber Paragraph 9(a) as 9.

    Fox Valley Building Agreement. Article VI. Delete all of the first paragraph of Paragraph (b), including caption. Delete heading "(a)".

    Fox Valley Highway Agreement. Article IX. Delete all of the first paragraph of Paragraph (b), including caption. Delete heading "(a)".

    Building Agreement. Article XVII Paragraph 4(b). Add the following paragraph at end of last paragraph: "Fire Stopping, applies where the Employer elects to assign such work to Laborers."

    Road Building Agreement. Article XII paragraph 9(b). Add the following paragraph at the end of Streets, Ways and Bridges: "Lagging for bridge decks, if the Employer elects to assign this work to Laborers."

    Underground Agreement. Article II paragraph 3(a). Add the following paragraph at the end of the section: "All facets of work in conjunction with directional boring machines if the Employer elects to assign this work to Laborers."


3)     BENEFIT FUNDS

        The following sentence shall be added to all five agreements:

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    The employer agrees to be bound by the Agreements and Declarations of Trust establishing the (names of funds, including LECET), as well as any amendments thereto.

    If requested by the Union, Section 415 Excess Benefit Fund (Diversion of pension contributions that would otherwise go into the Chicago Laborers pension fund to be diverted to fund a Section 415 Excess Benefit Fund) language shall be added to all five agreements which:

    authorizes trustees of Section 415 Excess Benefit Fund to determine each year, the amount that will be contributed to the Excess Benefit Fund and accordingly, the account of 415 make-up benefits that will be paid to each otherwise eligible retiree (or beneficiary of a retiree) and

    provides for funding the Section 415 Excess Benefit Fund in a manner that does not increase employers cost beyond what they have already agreed to contribute to the Chicago Laborers' Pension Fund (by providing for a reduction in their Pension Fund contribution obligation equal to the amount allocated to the Excess Benefit Fund).

4)     GRIEVANCES

    The following shall be added to the end of paragraph 2 of the Settlement of Disputes provision in all five agreements:

    Laborers who prevail in their grievances shall be compensated for two(2) hours lost time to attend the JGC grievance hearing. Grievances shall be dismissed if the grievant fails to appear at the scheduled hearing and no continuance is granted by the JGC.

    The following shall become the new paragraph 5 of the Settlement of Disputes provision in all five agreements:

    Any party who fails to comply with an arbitrators award or the JGC's determination within seven (7) days' notice of such award or determination shall be responsible for an additional ten percent (10%) liquidated damages on any monetary award and all court costs and reasonable attorney fees actually incurred by the party in enforcing the award.

    The existing paragraph 5 of the Settlement of Disputes provision shall be renumbered as paragraph 6.

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5)     CHECK-OFF & DUES DEDUCTION

    The following shall be added to the end of Check-off & Dues Deduction Article in all five agreements:

The Union may file suit, or remove employees that it represents, or both for non-remittance or underpayment of dues by an Employer.

Employers who fag to timely remit Union Dues shay be assessed an additional ten percent (10%) liquidated damages.

Dues remittance reports shall include a report of the hours worked and wages earned by each Laborer.

    The following shall be added to all five agreements (change in bold):

 Building Article 8, paragraph 3, second to last paragraph 
Underground-Article 5, paragraph 8, second to last paragraph 
Road Building-Article 5, paragraph 3, second to last paragraph 
Fox Valley Building-specific section to be determined at a later date 
Fox Valley Highway-specific section to be determined at a later date

    The Trustees of the aforementioned Welfare and Pension Funds and the Union shall have the authority to audit the books and records of a participating Employer, either directly or through authorized representative, whenever such examination is deemed necessary for the purpose of compliance with the provisions of this Agreement, including the obligation to remit Union Dues under Article 6 (Underground will be Article "4" and Road Building will be Article "7").

6)     INDUSTRY FUND

LECET contribution shall be increased by an additional two cents ($0.02) per hour

MCIAF contribution shall be increased by an additional two cents ($0.02) per hour

The following shall be added to all five agreements in the appropriate Article:

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Each contractor shall contribute one cent ($.01) per hour for each hour worked by his/her employees covered by this Agreement to the Construction Industry Service Corporation (CISCO), a not for profit corporation

7)     WAGES

    6/1/01 to 5/31/02 $1.65 per hour total annual increase

    6/1/02 to 5/31/03 $1.80 per hour total annual increase

    6/1/03 to 5/31/04 $2.00 per hour total annual increase

    6/1/04 to 5/31/05 $2.20 per hour total annual increase

    6/1/05 to S/31/06 $2.20 per hour total annual increase

    All five agreement shall provide in the appropriate article that the Union's annual allocations, at its sole discretion, includes LECET.

    The following sentences shall be added to all five agreements in the appropriate Article:

    For the economic increases listed above, the Union shall have discretion to allocate to another funds) to be established, up to a maximum of thirty cents ($0.30) per hour over the term of the agreement (Up to twelve cents ($.12) in the first year and up to eighteen cents ($.18) over the remaining years). The funds) shall indemnify and hold the Employer harmless as regards the creation, implementation and operation of the fund(s), other than the obligation to contribute the designated amounts to the fund(s), and such indemnity and hold harmless shall include the payment of all reasonable costs and attorney's fees actually incurred on behalf of the employer. The employer shall give prompt notice to the funds) of any claims asserted or suits fled that are subject to indemnification.

    Wages must be paid by payroll check and shay include a stub or statement showing the number of straight time and overtime hours worked and rate of pay.

8)     GENDER NEUTRAL TERMS

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    The following sentence shall be added to all five agreements in the appropriate Article:

    The masculine gender has been used in this Agreement to facilitate ease of writing and editing and therefore the masculine gender shall include the feminine gender. Whenever the words "he", "him", "his", or "man" is used, they shall be read and construed as "he or she, "him or her", "his or hers", and "man or woman", respectively.

9)     ALCOHOL AND SUBSTANCE ABUSE PROGRAM

    The following sentence shall be added to all five agreements in the appropriate article (new sentence in bold):

    The parties incorporate the CISCO Uniform Drug/Alcohol Abuse Program, as modified, attached hereto as Addendum.

    It is recognized that some client owners require additional substance abuse procedures to be followed on their projects for all trades, and it shall not be a violation of this agreement for signatory employers to comply with this such procedures, provided prior written notification is given to the District Council.

10)     HOLIDAYS

    The following sentence shall be added to all five agreements in the appropriate article:

    If a holiday falls on a Sunday, it shall be celebrated on the following Monday. If a holiday falls on a day other than Sunday, it shall be celebrated on that date.

11)     SATURDAY MAKE UP DAY

Building-Article 2, paragraph 6
Road Building-Article 3, fifth paragraph
Underground-Article 8 OVERTIME paragraph 4, last sentence
Fox Valley Building- Article 3 Section 1, second paragraph
Fox Valley Highway-Article 5 Section 4, last sentence

Delete above-referenced Saturday make up day.

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12)     FOX VALLEY AGREEMENTS

Fox Valley Building Agreement- Article III Section 1 
Fox Valley Highway Agreement - Article V Section 4

    Amended to provide that double time shall be paid for all haws worked after ten and one-half (10.5) hours.

13) APPROVALS

    This Agreement is subject to approval by the MARBA Board of Directors and ratification by the Union. The portions of this Agreement that pertain only to the Fox Valley Building Agreement and the Fox Valley Highway Agreement are also subject to approval by the Fox Valley General Contractors Association. Non-approval by the Fox Valley General Contractors Association shall not affect the validity and enforceability of the remaining portions of this agreement

Dated' May 31 2001

Side Letter Agreement to the collective bargaining agreements known as the Building Amt, the Road Building Agreement, the Sewer and Tunnel Agreement (or Underground Agreement), the Fox Valley Building Agreement, and the Fox Valley Highway Agreement:

    If the District Council during the term of this agreement establishes any new LMCC or other Trust Funds (hereinafter the "Fund" or "Funds"), the trust agreements establishing the funds) shall be provided to MARBA's legal counsel who shall review the terms of the trust agreement prior to remittance of any employer contributions to the funds) to confirm the funds' conformance with Section 302(c) of the LMRA and the tax deductibility of employer contributions to the fund(s).

    If MARBA's counsel advises that the Funds) is not lawful for either of the above reasons then MARBA shall send a letter to the Union containing the reasons for the advice and the employer's contributions shall be escrowed pending the resolution of the matter. Any disputes over Section 302(c) compliance and tax deductibility may be submitted by the Union or MARBA for final resolution by an arbitrator selected under the multi-employer fund dispute resolution procedure of the American Arbitration Association. The arbitrator's decision shall be final and binding. The arbitrator's costs and fees shall be paid by the fund(s).

    In the event MARBA's counsel approves the terms of the fund or an arbitrator rules that the fund complies with applicable laws, then any escrowed money shall be remitted to the funds) and the parties shall execute an amendment to the collective bargaining agreements which shall incorporate the terms of the trust agreement and shall also incorporate the collection procedures applicable to the pension and health and welfare funds in the Agreement.

    In the event the funds) are ruled not to be in conformance with Section 302(c) of the LMRA or the Employers contributions are not tax deductible then the funds) shall either be amended to cure any non-conformance with Section 302(c) or non-deductibility, or MARBA shall have no further obligations to contribute to the fund in lieu of wages and any escrowed amounts shall be paid as wages to the employees on whose behalf contributions were made to the fund(s).