Brothers and Sisters,
I hope you each enjoyed the holidays surrounded by family and friends. Although there always are a lot of obligations that come with holidays, it was important for me to carve out time to reflect on the past year’s challenges and successes that contributed to the growth of Local 150, as well as prepare for another year of what we must do to fight for our work and our members’ livelihoods.
The time spent with our friends in the labor community and family at home shows the importance of having balance in our lives, reminding us that within the ups and downs that any particular year brings, every event or holiday meal is a time to connect with others. These times are opportunities to take a break from the quick pace of life, a necessary break in order to be ready for the road ahead.
2024 had a number of major wins for our members. I want to start first with sharing that both our International and our Local reached record membership numbers this past year. The International Union of Operating Engineers is now at nearly 410,000 members, and Local 150 is now at over 24,000 members. These remarkable increases indicate that our consistent focus on organizing new members is making a difference.
Local 150 also made significant strides in advancing the interests of our members by securing groundbreaking contracts, achieving legislative victories, bringing home landmark legal wins, and much more. Our relentless advocacy and strategic negotiations resulted in over 150 contracts being successfully negotiated across various industries. These agreements not only ensure fair wages and safe working conditions but also set new standards for labor rights within our jurisdiction.
I know I have talked about this in many of my reports, but this past year, due to the sheer number alone, Local 150 faced one of the most difficult contract negotiation seasons ever in the history of our Local. It’s unprecedented. Again, over 150 contracts from every industry were renegotiated from our major Heavy-Highway-Underground and Building Agreements in Districts 1-2-3 and 5, as well as 6 and 7, to shops, to surveyors, to the Diving Addendum and Great Lakes Floating Agreement, to several stand-alone agreements for material producers, public sector employees, and more. Every contract that has been negotiated in 2024 was done to create protective measures for you, our members. The negotiations continue this year as we currently are working on agreements for equipment dealerships.
Beyond contracts, our work in local and state governments was very important for us. Local 150 remains forward-thinking to stay vigilant and proactive in meeting the changing needs of the diverse industries we serve. A key approach we take is advocating for policies that promote long-term stability and growth with local and state governments. In 2024, we effectively opposed measures concerning the transportation lockbox, the ban on natural gas, the motor fuel tax, and ensured prevailing wages for surveyors through our Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Foundation for Fair Contracting, among other initiatives.
Another key to our success is that Local 150 has an exceptional legal team dedicated to safeguarding our members’ interests in matters of labor disputes and unfair labor practices, while also ensuring the protection of the union itself. This year, Local 150 won a landmark ruling in a case against Spike Enterprises that further supported men and women’s rights to engage in union activity and sets the precedent of severe financial consequences to employers who violate the law. We also protected rights of new members to organize in Riverstone and Interstate Rentals.
With each legal win, we reinforce the message that fairness and justice are paramount in the workplace. Our efforts extend beyond legal battles. We actively engage in community outreach, educating workers about their rights and the benefits of union membership. By giving individuals knowledge and resources, we aim to create a more informed and resilient workforce. This approach ensures that every member understands the power of collective action and the importance of standing together in solidarity.
As we empower individuals with knowledge and resources to advocate for their rights, we simultaneously focus on strengthening our union through strategic organizing efforts. Organizing not only strengthens our union by increasing our market share and therefore bargaining strength, but also reinforces our commitment to expanding our reach and influence across various industries. Local 150 kicked off 2024 by successfully organizing 140 new members from Parsec and Alta, marking one of the largest campaigns the union has ever undertaken simultaneously. Throughout the year, we continued to welcome new members, including 60 from Rental Max, 26 from Republic Services, 18 from Spike, and others from GLF, Tri-State Asphalt, and beyond. Additionally, we brought on another 80 members from the public sector from Homer Glen, Glen Ellyn, and Morton Grove.
Through these efforts, we sustain our market share, which is vital to Local 150. The successful organization of these members is a reminder of the power of that we hold when we join forces and the importance of ongoing efforts to reach out and support workers seeking to improve their working conditions and livelihoods.
Our success year after year doesn’t happen by accident. You can’t hit a jackpot without first making the effort to buy a ticket. Similarly, we can’t pull off our accomplishments at the negotiation table, at a legislative session, or in the courtroom without putting in the work ahead of time.
While I was thinking about this past year, I realized that Local 150 had a lot of successes to share. Yet, I also want to talk for a moment about how much work goes into achieving these successes. Because our lives are packed with work, family, and more, we only have time to share the 30,000 foot view of any win. In doing that, we often times miss the most important part – the process it takes to get us to there. Some of our negotiations, cases, legislative plans, organizing efforts take not weeks or months, but years. I share this only to pull back a layer so that you can understand how many moving parts are working together in sync to protect your work and rights. What we want out of any project we take on takes time and coordinated effort.
The best way to describe it is when you lift up the hood on a piece of equipment, there are hundreds of interlocking parts. And all of these parts of the engine are working together, with perfect timing, in order to make the machine run smoothly. That’s what the union is every single day of the week, year-round. Our Officers, agents, organizers, and staff are taking calls and getting plans in place. Local 150 operates like an engine; and we run on manpower. It’s our members, Officers, business agents, organizers, staff, stewards, craft foremen, and assistant craft foremen that labor either in the field, in the office, or in the community to move the needle to reach our goal. Every role is essential, and each individual’s contributions are focused on our mission of supporting our members and championing their rights.
We need every person in place, doing their job to make it all work. And because Local 150 does this well, it seems like our wins come easy. They actually don’t, because if it was easy, then anybody could do it. I want to stress, the only reason we can hold up our accomplishments is due to the hours upon hours of research, analysis, number crunching, writing, and more that takes place in each of the departments at Local 150. We go above and beyond to be sure that when our union gets to any table or out on any line, we’ve educated ourselves on upcoming projects in that industry, the company, the economy, politics, and current trends to understand the impact each one of these factors will play on our list of demands. From the outside looking in, it makes it seem like our union just has a lot of luck. The reality is though that luck only happens when being prepared and the right opportunity meet.
Rest assured, in 2025 even if we all only have time to take in the highlights of our wins, I want you to know that when we walk into any room, we have done our due diligence. We owe it to you, our members, to not just show up, but to prepare so we will be ready to seize any and every opportunity knocking on our door to make Local 150 stronger.
We’re going to need this because the fight for work in our jurisdiction is ongoing. Getting operators into equipment can still be a struggle. I shared before, we are always focused on the next set of goals on our list. This year, more than ever, we’ve seen the importance of standing together and leveraging our collective strength to navigate the uncertainties of the economic landscape.
As we plot a course through these changes, your feedback and input are invaluable. Please do not hesitate to reach out to your business agents with any questions or suggestions. Together, we will continue to build a resilient and thriving future for all members of Local 150.
In these times, it is essential to stay informed and engaged, participating actively in union meetings and initiatives. Your voice matters, and your contributions are central to shaping the future of our Local. Let us continue to support one another, celebrate our achievements, and work tirelessly towards our common goals. By preparing for the challenges ahead, we can transform them into opportunities for growth and innovation. The path forward may not always be easy, but with determination and solidarity, we are equipped to take on any obstacles that come our way.
Here’s to a year of progress and shared victories. Through our work together, we will continue to champion the causes that matter most, ensuring that Local 150 remains a strong presence within the labor movement. Let’s carry our determination into all our endeavors, making 2025 a year to remember for all the right reasons.
United We Stand, Divided We Fall.