A file image of construction on the Jane Byrne Interchange. (WTTW News)
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.
The eight local unions that authorized strikes are spread throughout Illinois and represent around 3,800 employees, including drivers, highway maintainers and bridge tenders.
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.”
In a statement to Capitol News Illinois, IDOT representatives said the safety of travelers is their “top priority”
“The department values its hard-working staff and employees and looks forward to continuing a successful partnership with all of its collective bargaining units now and into the future,” according to the statement.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker's office responded to the situation similarly, while also noting that the state has successfully reached agreements with several other unions over the past several months, including with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31, which covers 30,000 state workers after a six-month negotiating process.
“The Governor is committed to ensuring a fair agreement for everyone involved, like those that have already been reached with other unions,” Pritzker spokesperson Alex Gough said in a statement.
