Ceroni Piping Co. construction postponed to summer - News - Rockford Register Star - Rockford, IL

Posted Nov. 6, 2015 at 6:00 PM
Updated Nov 18, 2015 at 8:44 PM

 

By Adam Poulisse
Staff writer

Posted Nov. 6, 2015 at 6:00 PM
Updated Nov 18, 2015 at 8:44 PM

CHERRY VALLEY — Construction of a metal fabrication shop that would bring about 25 jobs to the area has been postponed until summer.

Ceroni Piping Co. is planning a $5.5 million, 25,000-square-foot warehouse at the intersection of U.S. 20 and Interstate 90 in Cherry Valley. It was originally scheduled to break ground this month. However, approval for a final plat that would allow President/CEO Steve Ceroni to subdivide and sell two lots — one 4 acres and the other 13 acres — on the property has taken longer than expected.

"It's somewhat disappointing," Ceroni said. "We were hoping to do something this fall. We understand it's all part of the approval process."

The plat received the last of eight required approvals by the Cherry Valley Village Board on Tuesday.

The delay was a result of presenting the final plat at meetings that were already scheduled, according to Natalie Hyser Barber, an attorney with Tobin & Ramon in Belvidere representing Ceroni.

Construction was also postponed to avoid doing work in inclement weather, Ceroni said.

The final plat requires eight signatures. Typically, a plat must be approved by the county engineer, county recorder, adjoining municipalities and a representative from the planning department, said Kathy Miller, interim planning director for Boone County.

"Every plat requires certain signatures," she said.

In June 2014, Ceroni Real Estate, a division of Ceroni Piping, closed a deal on almost 23 acres of farmland at 974 U.S. 20. The County Board in February approved a special use permit to allow outdoor storage.

On Oct. 21, the Boone County Board approved the final plat despite some concern from two board members.

District 3 board member Sherry Branson lives near the property. During the meeting, she referenced documents from Boone County Soil and Water Conservation District that stated the Illinois Geological Survey found the future business site is a high potential for aquifer contamination, and that it would be in the best interest of Boone County to require a groundwater protection plan.

"It concerns me because, I think, as a board we owe it to the neighbors to protect their wells," Branson said. "I would feel better about this if we had a ground water protection plan implemented and it was on file."

Barber told the board at the meeting that Ceroni has worked with the health department to ensure his proposed well and septic system is feasible.

Sheriff Dave Ernest said he didn't believe traffic was a concern for that expanding business district.

"We have accidents all over the county," he said. "I don't think this is any greater of an area than ... the areas that are connected to Bypass 20 as it drives through our county."

Ceroni Piping is the second-largest contractor in northwest Illinois between Belvidere and the Mississippi River, according to Register Star archives. It hires about 45 union members to do field work each year.

District 3 board member Ken Freeman said he had concerns about the traffic that area will generate.

"I'm all for business in Boone County," he told the board, "but that area ... is an accident waiting to happen, and I will not be supporting it."

Freeman and Branson voted against the plat.

Above is from:  Ceroni Piping Co. construction postponed to summer - News - Rockford Register Star - Rockford, IL

 

An earlier RRStar piece on the Ceroni project is available at:  http://www.rrstar.com/article/20150403/NEWS/150409767/0/SEARCH

Workers to get UAW vote at Volkswagen plant in Tennessee - Yahoo News

 

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The National Labor Relations Board on Wednesday granted the United Auto Workers' petition for a union vote for skilled-trades workers at the German automaker's lone U.S. plant in Tennessee.

 

The workers responsible for maintaining and repairing machinery and robots at the Chattanooga facility are now scheduled to hold a two-day vote on representation by the United Auto Workers starting on Dec. 3.

There are about 162 skilled-trades workers at the plant, making up about 12 percent of the total blue-collar workforce. Volkswagen had argued that they shouldn't be allowed to negotiate union agreements separately from the remaining 1,200-member production team, and that the union was seeking to carve out a group of workers more likely to vote for the UAW after it lost an acrimonious election among all hourly employees on a 712-626 vote last year.

Volkswagen also questioned the timing of the effort to hold an election amid the fallout of the diesel emissions cheating scandal that has engulfed the company.

But the UAW argued that the maintenance workers share unique sets of interests, including enhanced electrical and mechanical skills and training requirements, varying shift schedules, and even different uniforms than their colleagues working in assembly, body welding or the paint shop.

Gary Casteel, the secretary-treasurer of the UAW, criticized Volkswagen for trying to block the vote by skilled-trades workers.

"Volkswagen's attempt to sidestep U.S. law was a waste of employees' time and energy, and a waste of government resources," Casteel said in a statement. "Looking ahead, our hope is that the company now will recommit to the values that made Volkswagen a great brand — environmental sustainability and true co-determination between management and employees."

Volkswagen Chattanooga spokesman Scott Wilson said the company is reviewing the decision and "considering its options."

Groups like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce decry efforts by unions seeking to create smaller collective bargaining units as being the labor equivalent of political gerrymandering, where the most favorable lines are drawn to gain entry into businesses where the total workforce might lean against union representation.

But recent NLRB decisions have gone in favor of such "micro units," including by cosmetics and fragrance workers at a Macy's department store in Massachusetts and certified nursing assistants at a nursing home in Alabama.

Former NLRB member John Raudabaugh, who was appointed by Republican President George H. W. Bush, said he disagrees with the move away from requiring "wall-to-wall" bargaining units for all workers. Should the Volkswagen maintenance workers succeed, they could gain undue influence at the plant, he said.

"If they don't get what they want, they could go on strike and shut down the whole facility," said Raudabaugh, a law professor at Ave Maria University.

The UAW has been thwarted for decades in its bid to represent workers at a foreign-owned auto plant in the South. The February 2014 vote at the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga was seen as the union's best chance because of strong labor influence on the German automaker's board.

But anti-labor groups and Republican officials raised concerns that a successful union vote could hurt future expansion plans at the plant, imperil a lucrative state incentive package and dissuade other manufacturers and suppliers from investing in the state.

The UAW dismissed those statements as scare tactics, but was unable to stem the tide against the union in the election. Following that crushing loss, the union created Local 42 in Chattanooga to renew efforts to represent all blue-collar workers at the plant.

Richard Hurd, a labor relations professor at Cornell University said if the UAW is successful in gaining representation for the maintenance workers at Volkswagen, it may try a similar approach with other foreign autoworkers' plants in the region.

"It certainly would be a reasonable strategy for them if they want to use this as a way to try to gain a foothold," he said.

Workers to get UAW vote at Volkswagen plant in Tennessee - Yahoo News