Operating Engineers Ordered to Back Away From Forklift

Forklift work at Ohio construction sites remains out of a union’s reach after a federal appeals court agreed with the NLRB that the union’s claim to the work has no merit.

International Union of Operating Engineers Local 18 sought work assignments involving forklifts and other equipment. Workers represented by the Laborers’ International Union of North America had been getting the job assignments through the Construction Employers Association.

The National Labor Relations Board twice said the Laborers should get the work. The board ultimately ordered the Operating Engineers—which had been striking, threatening to strike, and pursuing grievances against the contractor group—to ...