FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 15, 2026
Contact: Kristine Kavanagh
(773) 620-9037
[email protected]
CRANEMASTERS’ CRUEL FIRING OF REPLACEMENT WORKER EXPOSES DEEP CONTEMPT FOR WORKERS AND THEIR FAMILIES
COUNTRYSIDE, IL (June 15, 2026) – The International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 150, AFL-CIO, representing over 24,000 workers in Indiana, Illinois, and Iowa who operate and maintain heavy equipment across various industries, is condemning Cranemasters after the company reportedly fired a replacement worker who called off work to respond to a family medical emergency involving his wife. Local 150 says the company’s actions are callous, inhumane, and emblematic of the same disregard for workers that has defined this labor dispute while Cranemasters employees have remained on strike and on the picket line for more than three years.
According to information reported to Local 150, the replacement worker—who had been with Cranemasters for more than a year and had become an integral part of the operation, including leading a team—was leaving for work when his wife, who had been experiencing postpartum depression, said she was having suicidal thoughts. The worker immediately notified Cranemasters that he could not report to work because he needed to get his wife urgent medical care. He returned to work the following day, only to be called into the office and told the company was accepting his resignation despite his explanation that he called out to respond to a serious family crisis. Afterward, the replacement worker joined the strike. Local 150 says Cranemasters later indicated it would bring him back, but changed course once the company learned he was on the picket line.
Cranemasters presents itself as a leading railroad contractor specializing in emergency derailment response, track construction and maintenance, railcar repair, and custom crane manufacturing for rail operations nationwide. The company promotes itself as an industry innovator and claims to deliver first-class service, but Local 150 says its treatment of workers tells a very different story.
“Cranemasters’ treatment of this worker is cruel, disgraceful, and utterly indefensible,” said David A. Fagan, Financial Secretary for IUOE Local 150. “When a company fires someone for responding to a family mental health crisis, it reveals a level of moral failure and contempt for working people that cannot be ignored. If Cranemasters is willing to act this ruthlessly toward a replacement worker, it is no surprise that its own employees have been left on a picket line for nearly three years, and fighting for basic dignity and respect, as well as an end to unfair labor practices by Cranemasters after winning an election for union representation nearly four years ago.”
For Local 150, the firing is not an isolated act, but the latest proof of a company culture built on retaliation, bad-faith conduct, and contempt for workers. Dozens of workers have joined the strike so far, including four who originally crossed the line as replacement workers. For years, Cranemasters has forced employees to endure intimidation, unlawful conduct, and deliberate disregard for their rights, all while expecting them to accept mistreatment in silence. This incident is another damning example of the company’s shameful behavior toward working people and their families. The workers have now been on strike for nearly two years after winning their union election in August 2023.
Local 150 is demanding that Cranemasters end its retaliation against workers, bargain in good faith, respect the dignity of workers and their families, and finally bring an end to this shameful labor dispute. After more than three years on the picket line, workers have seen more than enough of Cranemasters’ abuse, excuses, and indifference. It is long past time for the company to be held accountable and to do right by the people it has harmed.
Background on Dispute with Cranemasters
Over the course of this dispute, Cranemasters has been the subject of numerous unfair labor practice charges that reflect a sustained pattern of bad-faith bargaining, retaliation, coercion, and other unlawful conduct. For Local 150, these filings provide important context for understanding the company’s treatment of workers throughout this three-year dispute. Below are the Unfair Labor Practice Charges:
– September 7, 2023—unilateral changes to terms and conditions of employment and making coercive statements (Case No. 13-CA-325376);
– September 20, 2023—refusal to bargain/bad-faith bargaining (13-CA-326138);
– October 12, 2024—refusal to furnish information, bad-faith bargaining, unilateral changes to terms and conditions of employment, and making coercive statements (13-CA-327792);
– January 29, 2024—discharge employee for engaging in union activity (13-CA-334533);
– February 26, 2024—relocation of work away from bargaining unit (13-CA-336523);
– June 21, 2024—retaliation for engaging in union activity (13-CA-344933);
– July 10, 2024—calling employee a “bitch” and “snitch” for engaging in protected activity (13-CA-345999);
– July 10, 2024—refusal to provide information (13-CA-346000);
– July 10, 2024—refusal to bargain in good faith (13-CA-346001);
– August 2, 2024—refusal to schedule dates and times for bargaining (13-CA-347547);
– October 25, 2024—refusal bargaining in good faith and bargaining regressively (13-CA-353468);
– November 19, 2024—allocation of bargaining unit work to non-bargaining unit employees (13-CA-355439);
– February 6, 2025—offering benefits to employees to cease strike activity (13-CA-359827);
– March 18, 2025—employer filing meritless unfair labor practice charges against union; continuing to bargain in bad faith (13-CA-362139);
– April 29, 2025—employer declared premature impasse through counsel Charles Shewmake (13-CA-364588);
– June 4, 2025— refusal to bargain/bad-faith bargaining (13-CA-366910, remains under investigation by NLRB Region 13).
To read the full details regarding the Local 150 strike, visit our website at Local150.org.
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ABOUT THE IUOE LOCAL 150: The International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 150 is a labor union representing over 24,000 working men and women in Indiana, Illinois, and Iowa. Local 150 members operate and maintain heavy equipment in a variety of industries, which include heavy highway and building construction, heavy equipment rental and repair shops, construction material production, concrete pumping, hoisting, steel mill service, slag processing, pits and quarries, landfills, testing and drilling, pipeline, landscaping, public works, and more. In addition to securing work for its union members, Local 150 fights on behalf of all working men and women to ensure fair wages and equal pay. Most recently, Local 150 championed in Illinois The Worker’s Rights Amendment in 2022, ensuring constitutional protection for all Illinois workers to join a union.