Even as COVID-19 has led to school closings, event cancellations and other social-distancing measures, Wisconsin's construction industry has largely made no plans to stop work – at least fornow.

Tagged with: coronavirus DSPS International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 159 International Union of Operating Engineers Local 139 Jeff Beiriger Local 139 Plumbing Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractors Wisconsin Association Terry McGowan Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services Wisconsin Department of Transportation WisDOT

Federal officials filed an injunction last week to force the equipment-rental company Sunbelt Rentals into labor negotiations after it had fired employees who had led a unionization drive at its Franksville office this past summer.

Tagged with: bannering International Union of Operating Engineers Local 139 Local 139 National Labor Relations Act National Labor Relations Board NLRB Sunbelt Rentals unions

In response to protests that have sometimes turned destructive in northern Wisconsin, state lawmakers have introduced legislation to make it a felony to trespass on the site of a pipeline.

Tagged with: Construction Business Group Enbridge Energy International Union of Operating Engineers Local 139 Janet Bewley Line 3 Local 139 pipeline Superior Terry McGowan

Republican leadership in the state Legislature plan to intervene in a legal challenge of the state's well-known Act 10 law to contest arguments made by two labor unions that argue the law curtailing collective bargaining also limits their free-speech rights.

Tagged with: Act 10 Gov. Scott Walker Gov. Tony Evers International Union of Operating Engineers Local 139 Local 139

The International Union of Operating Engineers Local 139 unfurled banners and an inflatable “fat cat” figure Tuesday in a dispute with the Franksville office of equipment rental firm Sunbelt Rentals, which union officials say has refused to negotiate with workers who want to unionize.

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In one of his first public appearances since Election Day, Gov.-elect Tony Evers stopped in Coloma on Wednesday to tout trade careers and greet union leaders who helped him get to the high office.

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Workers walked off the construction of an apartment complex in Oak Creek on Tuesday after a Milwaukee-area union and out-of-state firm failed to reach a deal on the project's employment terms.

Tagged with: Drexel Town Square International Union of Operating Engineers Local 139 Local 139 Middleton Construction Oak Creek strike Veit & Co.

The International Union of Operating Engineers Locals 139 and 420 have filed a federal lawsuit seeking to invalidate Act 10, a law passed in 2011 that restricts collective bargaining.

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With many state highway projects' schedules being pushed, more and more road workers are seeking out jobs on private projects, says the head of the largest construction-industry union in the state.

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Talks have wrapped up in what the head of the state’s largest construction union calls the toughest negotiating sessions he can recall in his 26 years on staff at Local 139 of the International Union of Operating Engineers.

Tagged with: Hoffman Construction Local 139 prevailing wage right-to-work Terry McGowan