As the city marks Labor Day, The Law Offices of Parente & Norem, P.C. is recognizing the union tradesmen and tradeswomen whose work is visible from nearly every corner of Chicago, and whose safety on the job remains the firm's ongoing concern the other 364 days of the year.
Labor Day originated as a tribute to the American worker, and few American cities carry that history as directly as Chicago. The trades built this city's towers, tunnels, bridges, water mains, transit lines, schools and hospitals. They rebuilt it after fires and floods, and they show up again every time a crane goes vertical over the Loop.
Chicago Was Built by Union Hands
Walk any block downtown and you are looking at the finished work of dozens of crafts. Ironworkers set the steel. Operating engineers run the cranes and the earth-moving equipment that made the hole in the ground possible. Carpenters frame and form. Electricians pull the wire that lights it. Pipefitters, plumbers, sheet metal workers, laborers, bricklayers, cement masons, glaziers, roofers and painters each put their piece in place, on schedule, in weather that ranges from lake-effect wind to July humidity.
That work is skilled, and it is learned. Chicago's building trades run some of the most rigorous apprenticeship programs in the country, including multi-year commitments that combine classroom instruction with supervised hours on real job sites. An apprentice who finishes a program in one of these trades has earned a credential that travels, and a wage that supports a family.
The Risks That Come With the Work
Construction remains one of the most hazardous industries in the United States, and it consistently accounts for a disproportionate share of workplace fatalities nationwide. Federal safety regulators have long identified four hazard categories responsible for the majority of construction deaths: falls, struck-by incidents, caught-in or caught-between incidents, and electrocutions.
Falls from scaffolding, ladders, roofs and unprotected edges remain the leading cause. But the injuries that end careers are not always dramatic. Repetitive lifting, kneeling, overhead work and vibration take a cumulative toll on shoulders, knees, backs and hands. A journeyman who has spent 25 years in the trade may face a shoulder or lumbar injury that no single incident report can fully explain.
These are not abstractions to the attorneys at Parente & Norem. They are the cases the firm has handled for decades.
Injured Union Workers in Illinois May Have More Than One Claim
Many injured construction workers assume a workers' compensation claim is the beginning and end of their options. In Illinois, that is not always the case.
Under the Illinois Workers' Compensation Act, an employee injured in the course of employment may be entitled to medical treatment, temporary total disability benefits while off work, and compensation for permanent disability, generally without needing to prove the employer was at fault. Claims are handled through the Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission.
Separately, a worker injured on a job site may have a third-party negligence claim against a party other than the employer such as a general contractor, a subcontractor from another trade, an equipment manufacturer, a property owner, or a negligent driver in the case of a vehicle incident. Unlike workers' compensation, a third-party claim can seek damages for pain and suffering, loss of a normal life, and the full measure of lost earnings.
Job sites in Chicago frequently involve multiple contractors working under a single general contractor, which is precisely the circumstance in which a second avenue of recovery may exist. Because both types of claims are governed by filing deadlines, and because a workers' compensation carrier may assert a lien against a third-party recovery, injured workers are encouraged to speak with an attorney promptly rather than waiting to see how a claim develops.
A Firm With Roots in Chicago Labor
Parente & Norem has represented injured workers and their families in Cook County and throughout Illinois for decades, with a practice built substantially on workers' compensation and construction injury litigation. The firm's relationships with Chicago's labor community extend beyond the courtroom through sponsorship of union events, scholarship support, and a continuing presence at the gatherings where the trades come together.
That work continues year-round. Labor Day is simply the day the rest of the city is invited to notice.
Wishing Chicago's Trades a Safe Holiday
Parente & Norem extends its thanks and its holiday wishes to every apprentice, journeyman, foreman and retiree in Chicago's building trades. The firm also reminds everyone traveling over the long weekend that Labor Day is consistently among the heaviest and most dangerous travel periods on Illinois roads, so drive rested, drive sober, and get home to the people waiting for you.
Parente & Norem is located at 221 N. LaSalle Street in Chicago. The firm can be reached at (312) 641-5926 for a free consultation regarding a workplace injury, construction accident, or workers' compensation claim.
