In its latest ruling for a market wrought with union jurisdictional disputes surrounding precast concrete erection, the National Labor Relations Board certified the Iron Workers District Council of Chicago and Vicinity and Local Union No. 444 in Joliet, Ill., as the exclusive bargaining representative for all precast concrete erection employees of International Erectors, Inc. (IEI), Kenosha, Wis. Issued from NLRB Region 13 in Chicago, the certification follows a representation vote in which the Iron Workers received three quarters of eligible ballots.

Prior to the election, IEI performed precast erection with composite crews of Iron Workers and Bricklayers. Both trades' locals had long-standing prehire agreements with IEI, which performs precast erection primarily in Wisconsin and Illinois and throughout the Midwest. The NLRB election made the Iron Workers the exclusive representative for all employees working within the Iron Workers District Council jurisdiction. “The IEI vote demonstrates once again that Iron Workers are the clear choice for people working in the precast industry,” boasts Iron Workers District Council President Eric Dean. “We are committed to providing contractors the best trained, most experienced journeymen.”

The IEI vote came four months after the Iron Workers obtained NLRB certification for the Precast Division of Area Erectors, he adds. The vote also follows recent NLRB rulings favoring Iron Workers in northern Illinois jobs, where disputes arose between its locals and their Bricklayers and Carpenters counterparts.