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Laborers lobby in Springfield for construction bill

Posted October 15, 2007 11:00 pm

Doug Finke

Anthony Spates of Decatur wants to be able to buy new clothes for his kids.

A lack of work cost Dan Hermila of Sesser his health insurance just before he needed stents to open blocked heart arteries.

Nelson Kimbrough of Rockford has to spend idle time fishing to provide food for his family.

All three men are members of the Laborers International Union of North America who traveled to Springfield Tuesday in hopes of putting a human face on the lack of a state construction program. All said they've seen their hours cut and their health insurance canceled due to the lack of construction jobs in Illinois.

"I've seen good times, and I've seen bad times, but I've never seen it this bad in construction," Kimbrough said.

Sean Stott, director of governmental affairs for the Laborers, said there are 25,000 members of the union downstate, and most work in construction. Over the last four years, he said, they have seen a 1.5 million reduction in the number of hours worked. That's resulted in 1,700 fewer union laborers than five years ago.

"We want to discuss the lack of a capital bill and therefore the lack of work opportunities for rank-and-file members," Stott said. "We've heard a lot of different stories about the personalities and inside politics of the capital bill. We've heard stories about the condition of our infrastructure. What we haven't heard is how that has affected everyday working people."

The state Senate has passed both a capital construction bill and an expansion of gambling to pay for it. House committees will hold hearings this week on both pieces of legislation. House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, has expressed reservations about the size of the gambling bill.

"No one disagrees that there needs to be a capital program. The question is how does it get paid for," said Madigan spokesman Steve Brown.

Stott said the union wants the capital program regardless of the funding source.

"We don't have an issue with gaming or another funding source. We don't care where the money comes from," he said.

For laborers, a lack of hours worked means that unemployment benefits are eaten up faster, and they are not eligible for health insurance. For Hermila, that meant he was uninsured when he needed a heart procedure that cost $50,000.

"The working poor supports this state, and the state needs to support us," Hermila said at a Statehouse news conference.

"You want to know what it's like to have a newborn child and can't buy new clothes?" Spates said. "I have to go to a rummage sale. Without money, I can't buy for my family."

"I can't afford to go to the doctor if I need to go now," said Kimbrough, a 35-year member of the Laborers union. "We eat a lot of beans. To improvise, I go fishing and we eat fish."

One area of the state where the news is less dire for laborers is in Pekin-based Local 231. Business manager Bob Schroeder said laborers in his area have benefited from several large, privately funded jobs. Once those are completed, though, his members will need to rely on highway construction, schools, universities, "all the state jobs that come with a capital bill," he said.

Doug Finke can be reached at (217) 788-1527 or doug.finke@sj-r.com.

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