The Lake County Council backed local unions in their fight for more union jobs on a project in Eagle Creek Township.
U.S. Cold Storage, which has headquarters in New Jersey, has been building a $60 million automated cold storage facility on 27 acres at the northeast corner of Interstate 65 and Indiana 2 in Eagle Creek Township. In June, the council learned that the company had brought in non-union labor from the East Coast for some work at the site, according to a statement from the county.
Randy Palmateer, the business manager for the Northwestern Indiana Building and Construction Trades Council, and Brad Matthews, business representative for the Central Midwest Regional Council of Carpenters, said the unions and U.S. Cold Storage came to an agreement on union work for the project besides one facet — racking, or the steel structure.
“They’ve been great to work with; it’s just this one facet,” Palmateer said.
Matthews said while the project has had some local union work, U.S. Cold Storage hasn’t upheld its agreement about hiring local union workers.
“They made a promise for 100% local labor and they’re not living up to that promise,” Matthews said. “It’s important that this work goes to our local workers.”
U.S. Cold Storage area director Adam Ashley said in a statement that all construction of the building and related site work “has utilized 100% union workers.”
“We have an automation partner and due to the specialized nature of the automation they provide us with a complete solution from installation to operation,” Ashley said.
The Lake County Council worked with the union, sending letters and calling company officials, to ensure that more local union workers could work on the project. The council members felt it was important to assist the union because when the project was approved a year ago verbal commitments were made that local union workers would be hired, according to the statement.
The council granted a 10-year tax abatement for the project in July 2023 to U.S. Cold Storage after company representatives made commitments to the council during the study session prior to the public meeting that the company would only use union labor and strive to hire local contractors, according to the statement.
In an effort to help the long-delayed project originally intended to begin in 2017 move forward on an expedited timeline, the Council granted the abatement without codifying the promises made by the company representatives, according to the statement.
“We are disappointed the company has chosen to disregard the promises made in an effort to obtain the tax abatement and not honor their commitment to the Lake County Council and the unions, contractors and taxpayers who live here,” according to the statement.
The council sent a certified letter to U.S. Cold Storage vice president and corporate controller Erica Matthews, according to the statement.
Councilman Randy Niemeyer, R-Cedar Lake, said he called company representatives to talk about the project and remind them about the verbal commitment made to the council.
“We’ve backed (the unions) with what we can do legally and we hope there is a resolution to this,” Niemeyer said. “We’re always happy to support local labor.”
Palmateer said the union is still working with U.S. Cold Storage representatives to ensure local union workers can work on the racking portion of the project.
“We’re continuing to push to keep local labor on these projects,” Matthews said.
