Support the St. Louis County Snow Plow Driver's Strike!

This morning the snow plow drivers and maintenance workers of St. Louis County went out on strike.  They plan to stay out on strike until the County meets their demands.  The 168 workers, who are represented by Teamsters Local 320, are picketing every Public Works Department in the County, and plan on sending roving pickets after any PWD vehicle that gets deployed.  Given that St. Louis County is bigger than Connecticut and Rhode Island combined, the union has a big area to cover. 

The union has been engaged in tough negotiations for several weeks.  One of the main issues of contention is a dispute over the sick leave accrual.  In a previous contract the County had successfully pushed for a two-tier sick bank that resulted in new hires not being able to accumulate as many hours as previously hired workers (new hires were capped at 1,150 hours will other workers hired before 2013 were capped at 1,900).  Since then, two unions representing other County workers have negotiated that 1,150 hour cap up to 1500 hours, which workers can then cash out when they retire if it hasn't been used.  The Teamsters are simply fighting to get that same plan for their members, but the County has so far refused.  Health coverage plans have also been a point of contention.

In a statement issued by the Teamsters, chief negotiator Erik Skoog pointed out, “These hardworking employees make a daily commitment to drive into blizzard conditions when most folks avoid inclement weather.  These employees spend nights, holidays, and weekends clearing roads in dangerous conditions and will not continue to be second class employees.”

We couldn’t agree more.  We urge all of our readers to support this strike.  Visit the picket lines if you can (the graphic embedded in this article list the various sites the union is picketing - all pickets start at 7am and run until 4pm, except for Pike Lake, which starts at 6am), contact St. Louis County and urge them to accept the union’s terms (you can call them at 218-726-2000) and stay tuned for additional ways to support these hard working brothers, sisters and siblings.

To stay in the loop directly from the Teamsters, here are the links to Local 320:

-Teamsters Local 320 website
-Teamsters Local 320 facebook page

>> The article above was written by Adam Ritscher.