Dispute With Contractor Brings Strike To The Milton

Some of the crews working to restore and renovate The Milton have halted construction after working 3 weeks without a contract.

The contract RAM Construction had with its workers expired on June 1st. According to the Battle Creek Enquirer, a group of workers decided to walk off the job on Thursday until a new contract deal is reached.

RAM Construction’s contract with its workers ended on June 1st. RAM's workers spent the first three weeks of June working on the $34 million renovation project without a contract.

The Milton is just one of many locations around Michigan where Ram Construction workers have halted work. Other locations include The Book Tower and The Buhl Building in Detroit.

The Milton, formerly the Heritage Tower, will feature retail space and apartments, with the apartments coming online first. Once completed, The Milton will contain 85 residential apartments, and 32,000 square feet of retail and office space.

Since this is a historic building, the project is also trying to preserve some of the original structure’s character; while the original escalators in the lobby will not be used, they will be restoring the historic Art Deco elevators.

Those involved with the project had recently stated they expected the project to be wrapped up by the end of the year though the company had already started leasing for future tenants.

Contract negotiations continued this week though there is no word on when a deal may be reached or if this will alter the date of expected completion.