Future Tony's Fresh Market Draws 2 Inflatable Rats To Joliet

JOLIET, IL — Two large inflatable rats were positioned along Joliet's busy Larkin Avenue corridor Thursday morning as part of an organized effort by Laborers Local 75 to draw attention to their labor dispute with Tony's Fresh Market at the former Kmart property.

The new Tony's is expected to open for business later this year along Joliet's busiest intersection, Jefferson Street and Larkin Avenue. This week, interior demolition contractors started working inside the old Kmart, and Joliet area trade unions are not happy about that.

That's because company officials with Tony's Fresh Market hired the Boutz Construction and Demolition Company in Chicago to handle the interior demolition work, according to Laborers Local 75.

Boutz did not use union tradesmen for the Kmart project, and Boutz pays low wages to its workers, according to members of Local 75 in Joliet.

"If they're here tomorrow, we'll be back tomorrow," Laborers Local 75 President Mark Micetich told Joliet Patch's editor on Thursday morning as he stood with other union tradesmen from Joliet picketing the interior demolition being handled by Boutz Construction.

Local 75 members told Patch it is their understanding that the Tony's Fresh Market redevelopment project, which was approved by the Joliet City Council in December, must use union labor for at least 75 percent of the project at the former Kmart site.

It's hard to say how many days it will take the non-union laborers from Elgin to complete the interior demolition for the future Joliet Tony's Fresh Market.

Local 75 told Patch the work could get done in about 10 days, but if the workers discover asbestos inside the building, the project may take several more weeks to complete.

The 100,000-square-foot building was built around 1965, and the Kmart store has been vacant since it closed in 2016.