In The News
Wage dispute could lead to strike on Indiana Toll Road
INDIANAPOLIS — Differences over proposed contract terms between the private operator of the Indiana Toll Road and a union that represents its toll collectors could lead to a strike, a union official said Wednesday.
"If it keeps going on like it is, it is very possible," said Bob Dobbs, a business agent for the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 364 in South Bend.
Toll collectors along the 157-mile highway in northern Indiana voted in December to be represented by the Teamsters, but the union and the Indiana Toll Road Concession Co. have been unable to agree on a contract since negotiations began in February.
A major sticking point is over the company hiring temporary workers to fill slots the union says should go to permanent or part-time employees who would be represented by the Teamsters. The union represents about 170 toll collectors, most of them full-time employees.
Company spokesman Matt Pierce said hiring temporary workers is needed for flexibility as more motorists use electronic tolling, which requires fewer toll booths to be staffed.
When permanent or part-time workers have been leaving through attrition, the company has been filling their slots if needed with temporary workers, he said.
About half the motorists driving the highway now use electronic tolling, but the company knows that will pick up, Pierce said. Filling some vacant slots with temporary workers makes sense because as electronic tolling increases and the need for manpower goes down, temporary employees would be let go.
No current union worker would lose a job because of electronic tolling, Pierce said, only through attrition.
Dobbs said the company should hire any needed replacement workers as full- or part-time employees represented by the union. During negotiations Wednesday, the company proposed limiting temporary workers to 30 percent of the tolling workforce, he said.
Dobbs said the union believes it could accept 10 percent. More talks are scheduled for Monday and Tuesday.
The union also is seeking a pay raise. Pierce said the pay for a permanent or part-time toll collector on the Toll Road ranges from $10.38 to about $14 per hour. But Dobbs said toll collectors in Ohio and Pennsylvania who are represented by the Teamsters make about $20 an hour on average, and it should be comparable for the Indiana Toll Road.
Dobbs said the union proposed a wages-and-benefits package to the company months ago, but the company has declined to discuss financial terms until other matters have been settled.
Pierce said it was not unusual that negotiations have lasted so long, because this would be the first contract between the Toll Road company and its toll collectors represented by a union.
"Obviously we would hope that it doesn't progress to a strike or job action," he said. "We value our toll collectors."