EAST ST. LOUIS — A Clinton County contracting company is being sued for allegedly violating a collective bargaining agreement with an engineer union.
International Union of Operating Engineers, Local Union #965 filed a complaint Oct. 25 in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois East St. Louis Division against Groundworks Contracting Inc.
According to the plaintiff's complaint, Local #965 and Groundworks are parties to a collective bargaining agreement that was in effect from May 1, 2019, through April 30, 2022. The plaintiff claims it filed three grievances against Groundworks for violating the terms of the collective bargaining agreement on May 13. The suit states that one of the grievances was settled, but Groundworks refuses to respond to the other grievances.
The plaintiff further claims that on July 16, it requested the remaining grievances to be sent to arbitration. The union claims Groundworks has also failed to respond to that request and refuses to arbitrate. The plaintiff seeks permanent and injunctive relief to require Groundworks to arbitrate.
The plaintiffs seek monetary and all other just relief. They are represented by James Kimmey of Cavanagh & O'Hara LLP in Edwardsville.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois East St. Louis Division case number 3:21-CV-01330-NJR