Labor strike halts Chicago construction

CHICAGO, June 1 (UPI) -- No meetings have been scheduled between the union representing thousands of striking construction workers and Chicago-area employers.

Members of the Construction and General Laborers' District Council of Chicago and Vicinity walked out Thursday morning in a strike that shut down $240 million in public and private building projects in a nine-county region, the Chicago Sun-Times reported. Picket lines were up at scores of work sites and were being honored by other unions.

However, major work continued on the two-year, $600 million reconstruction of the Dan Ryan Expressway, because of a separate contract with Walsh Construction, the project's general contractor.

Negotiations between the laborers' union and area contractors broke off May 1 and no new negotiations were scheduled. Subcontracting, pensions and wages were main sticking points in contract talks.