Decision day for Toll Road workers
Private operator won't hire everyone back today
From Friday, January 19, 2007 12:56 AM CST Email this story Print this story
BY KEITH BENMAN
kbenman@nwitimes.com
219.933.3326

The Indiana Toll Road's private operator took control of the road at the end of June. Today it gets most of the employees.

Toll Road employees must make a final decision today on whether to stay on at the Toll Road or to take the state of Indiana up on its offer of a guaranteed job.

About 15 percent of the Toll Road's 563 employees already had signaled they intend to continue their employment with the state, according to Matt Pierce, spokesman for private operator ITR Concessions. The rest are expected to stay with the Toll Road and ITR Concessions.

The jobs guarantee was a key demand of State Sen. Earline Rogers, D-Gary, and some other northern Indiana legislators who voted for the Major Moves legislation that opened the way for the lease of the Toll Road.

The new state job must be within 25 miles of the Toll Road worker's current job or home.

A Spanish-Australian consortium won the right to collect tolls on the Toll Road for 75 years with a $3.85 billion bid last year. The consortium formed ITR Concessions to run the road and took over operations from the Indiana Toll Road Authority on June 29.

Since October, Toll Road workers have been learning about their employment options and applying for their own jobs or new state jobs.

"This allows us to get to the certainty point so we can start new," Pierce said. "Now we can all work together for the good of the Indiana Toll Road."

Human relations staff from ITR Concessions and the state will meet with Toll Road workers today to again go over employees' options and finalize their decisions.

Toll Road workers have remained employees of the state since ITR Concessions took over at the end of June, and ITR has been reimbursing the state for their wages and benefits.

The move to private operation has caused some consternation among employees, who have worried if pay and benefits will stay the same -- or even if they will still have jobs.

ITR Concessions and the state are adhering to their pledge that no one will be without a job, Pierce says. That does not mean ITR Concessions will keep everyone who reapplied for their job.

"There will be individuals that don't fit into what we consider a desirable employee," Pierce said.

However, that number is expected to be small and all of them are guaranteed state employment, he said.

Wages for toll attendants will remain within the current range of $10.35 per hour to more than $14 per hour, Pierce said. Other jobs such as road maintenance pay more.

Health insurance offered by ITR is also comparable to the state's and dental coverage is improved, Pierce said.

Those employees who are vested with 10 years in the state's Public Employee Retirement Fund (PERF) remain vested. If they stay with the Toll Road, they can collect when they retire. Anyone who goes to the state will continue to accrue PERF benefits.

Those with between two and 10 years in PERF will get pension benefits on a prorated basis if they elect to stay with the Toll Road, Pierce said.

Ind. Ex-Toll Workers Unhappy in New Jobs


© 2007 The Associated Press
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Some among the dozens of people who lost their Indiana Toll Road jobs last week are not happy about their assignments to new state jobs.

The private company that took over running the toll road last year terminated about 95 employees, who were eligible to be placed into other state government positions.

Dan Hackler, deputy director of the state personnel department, said among the displaced workers, 34 were assigned to the Department of Transportation, 19 to the Department of Correction and 11 to the Bureau of Motor Vehicles. Other were assigned to the Department of Natural Resources and at least one to the Department of Child Services.

Hackler said the workers were given six months to find another state job on their own, but those who could not were placed in jobs, with his office trying to place people in positions that matched their skills.

Linda Breniser, 60, of Elkhart, had been a toll-taker for 12 years and was assigned to a road crew job with the highway department, which would include snowplow driving, pothole patching, median mowing and other maintenance work.

"I'm going to give it a try," she said. "I have to give it a try."

Barb Poehlman, 62, was assigned to road crew work at the highway department's Elkhart garage after spending almost 18 years in a toll booth. She said she didn't think she could even climb into the big truck after recent knee surgery.

In another case, Sue Hirshler, a 26-year toll road employee, was assigned to the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City, which she said is nearly 50 miles from her home. She said she chose not to report to work at the prison, saying she would fear for her safety because her husband is a longtime state trooper and some inmates might have grudges against him.

Hackler, of the state personnel office, said he wanted to work with the employees who felt they were misplaced, to see whether other options were available.

"Our goal is to have people in jobs they really want to do," he said.

A spokesman for toll road operator ITR Concession Co. said last week that about 85 percent of the 552 people employed when it took over the highway indicated in November they would stay with the company.

ITR, a subsidiary of Australian-Spanish consortium Macquarie-Cintra, paid $3.8 billion to the state in June to lease the highway for 75 years. ITR agreed in the lease to keep all state employees working for the toll road at the same pay rate as they decided whether to keep their jobs or to seek another state position.

Some of the workers said they were considering a lawsuit against the state over their treatment.

"We're not done with this," Poehlman said.