Engineers Local 150 end strike against 30 quarries after seven weeks, to vote on final agreement Tuesday

After nearly two months of striking, the International Union of Operating Engineers reached a tentative agreement with three construction material companies, ending the holdout, officials said.

All sides involved will meet Tuesday to vote on a final proposal, according to a news release Tuesday from the chapter.

Pickets will be taken down immediately, ending the seven-week strike between the union’s Local 150 chapter and companies Vulcan Materials, Lehigh Hanson and Lafarge Holcim, the release states.

The strike originally began on June 7 after Local 150 filed unfair labor practice charges against the companies. After rejecting the employers’ “final offer” on Sunday, the sides agreed on terms that “recognize the need” of the workers, according to the release.

The strike halted work at 30 quarries across northern Illinois that produce aggregate material, such as sand, gravel and stone, which had the potential to stall road projects throughout the Chicago area.

A month into the strike, in early July, the delays had not been huge, officials said.

“When these men and women rejected the companies’ offer on Sunday, they were very clear on what it would take to reach an agreement that they could accept,” Local 150 President and Business Manager James Sweeney said in the release, “and today we were able to secure the necessary contract language and economic terms from the employers.”

Local 150 represents 23,000 working men and women across Illinois, Indiana and Iowa.