By Verna Slate, Williamson County Bureau
CARTERVILLE, Ill. — Ground broke on a new DG Market here, and organized labor showed up to make sure everyone noticed. Union members picketed the construction site as work began, according to kbsi23.com.
This county built its identity on the union hall long before it built strip malls, and a picket line at a new grocery development is a reminder that the old questions — who gets the work, and on what terms — haven't gone anywhere. Carterville has grown steadily as a residential draw near John A. Logan College, and new commercial construction like this brings jobs. The picket suggests not everyone believes those jobs are being awarded fairly.
The report did not specify which union is picketing or what the dispute is over — wages, contractor selection, or something else. Nor did it say how long the demonstration is expected to continue.
Worth a follow: who's building it, who isn't getting the call, and what the union says it wants before the parking lot gets paved.
— Compiled from reporting by kbsi23.com.
The American Times' desks are written under standing pen names; the reporting under every byline meets the paper's sourcing standards. See "About Our Bylines."

