Strike could affect Scott County
PROTECTED CONTENT
If you’re a current subscriber, log in below. If you would like to subscribe, please click the subscribe tab above.
Username and Password Help
Please enter your email and we will send you a password reset link.
Several Teamsters unions representing thousands of state highway workers have authorized strikes as contract negotiations between them and the state’s Department of Transportation continue. Ninety five percent of the members voted to authorize a strike.
The eight local unions that authorized strikes are spread throughout Illinois and represent around 3,800 employees, including drivers, highway maintainers and bridge tenders. This would include the bridge tender at the Florence Bridge and Hardin bridges and the ferry workers at the Kampsville Ferry. And river traffic takes priority over highway traffic, so the bridge, most likely, will be left in the up position if no bridge tender is present.
State highway maintenance workers at the Riggston facility would also be affected if a strike is authorized.
Negotiations between the state and the unions have lasted more than seven months.
“The major issue has been health insurance,” Pasquale Gianni, a spokesperson for the umbrella organization Teamsters Joint Council 25, told Capitol News Illinois.
Currently, the union members receive benefits through a union-managed plan, but Gianni said the state has been pushing to move the union members to the state’s health care plan. This is contentious, he said, because it would come with higher costs and fewer benefits.
A strike can still be avoided despite the authorization votes, which are one part of what is usually a multi-step process leading up to a work stoppage. None of the eight locals have announced plans to actually strike, but Gianni said they are nearing a “breaking point” with several locals already requiring third-party mediators.
“Our members have sent a loud and clear message,” Gianni said. “They’re ready and willing.”
The strike authorization vote may move to the courtroom. IDOT officials are claiming the workers are essential workers for the health and safety of the citizens. If that determination is made, workers will have to return to work.
Gov, J.B. Pritzkers office responded to the situation similarly, while also noting the state has successful reached agreements with several other unions over the past several months. including the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31 which covers 30,000 state workers. Those negotiations were conducted over a six month process.
Although there is no timeline, Giannni says the vote is one step closer to making a strike a reality.
