Road projects across Michigan that were stopped Sept. 4 due to a labor impasse resumed Sept. 28 as the two sides agreed to return to work with an agreement to negotiate a new contract this winter and work under the terms of a deal that expired in June until a new agreement can be reached.

Gov. Rick Snyder (R) met with the Michigan Infrastructure and Transportation Association and the Operating Engineers Local 324 last week, and the agreement to renew work was announced Sept. 27. MITA will allow operating engineers on more than 160 road projects and contractors to return to their projects. OE Local 324 agreed to professional mediation through the winter to help with negotiation of new contracts.

“双方都同意专业调解，以帮助他们进行长期争议，”斯奈德州长通讯总监阿里·阿德勒（Ari Adler）说。“这是一个积极的方向的举动，因为我们让他们同意这一点。由他们决定他们使用的哪个调解人以及从这里到达的地方。我们已经安排让一个有助于在底特律的大型讨价还价来组合那个城市破产的人，以便如果他们对此感兴趣。我们希望他们能利用这一点，并将这些道路合同淘汰。”

争议可以追溯到6月1日，当时先前的协议终止。工人继续没有合同工作，直到9月，MITA成员承包商关闭了他们的项目，理由是谈判缺乏进展。18luck官网OE Local 324将这种情况视为非自愿裁员。密歇根州已经与OE Local 324达成了一项全州道路协议，该协议自7月以来就已经成立。

“It’s our belief that MITA contractors have nothing to fear from that contract once we have the ability to sit down and talk it through with them. When the time comes for mediation for those contractors that do not see that as the way to go, that’s something we’ll look at, but first we want to talk to contractors and see where they stand,” said Dan McKernan, communications director for OE Local 324. “MITA is a bit of an odd situation in that it’s an association of contractors that’s both union and nonunion, whereas most of the organizations we work with are union. We found ourselves constantly at odds over things like subcontracting and other union/nonunion issues.”

Fewer than half of MITA's 550 member organizations are union contractors.

“I understand the frustration this has caused, but our association has an important responsibility to our members, who are committed to doing the best work they can to build and maintain Michigan’s infrastructure on behalf of taxpayers,” said Mike Nystrom, executive vice president and secretary of MITA, in a statement. “We appreciate the Governor’s commitment to resolving this issue in a satisfactory manner for both sides so we can get these road projects underway again. Our members will work with the Michigan Department of Transportation to get things wrapped up as quickly as possible and get lanes open again for motorists.”

In a press release sent out by Gov. Snyder’s office, the list of projects that can and cannot be finished prior to the onset of significant winter weather will be managed by MDOT, which will continue to review contract provisions related to completion dates, extensions for work, and possible financial penalties on a project-by-project basis. The governor has directed the department to monitor all projects and ensure quality is maintained despite the accelerated pace of work necessitated by the nearly four-week impasse.

阿德勒说：“国家在所有这些方面都是客户，这确实是公路建设者和他们为员工使用的运营工程联盟之间的合同纠纷，因此当我们进行停滞的项目时，我们的选择受到了限制。”18luck官网“我们想让他们再次互相交谈，至少要获得短期决议，以完成道路项目，然后让他们同意，前进，解决长期合同情况。”18luck官网

Snyder is termed out, so it’s likely the new governor will inherit the dispute.