St. Louis Co. Plow Drivers Among Teamsters Workers Moving Closer To Strike

Teamster Local 320 represents 165 county public works employees.

DULUTH, Minn. — St. Louis County Public Works employees with Teamsters Local 320 are not seeing eye-to-eye with the county involving a new three-year contract, and that means a strike could happen again in the heart of the upcoming winter plowing season.

“As it stands right now, we’re poised to [strike] if we have to hit the streets again in January. I don’t want to, our members don’t want to, but unfortunately I think the county does want us to,” said Erik Skoog, president of Teamsters Local 320.

Skoog said negotiations fell apart quickly Friday just three minutes into a meeting with St. Louis County after the county handed over what the Teamsters union calls a “less than stellar wage offer.”

165 Teamsters make up the St. Louis County Public Works department, like plow drivers, mechanics and building and maintenance crews.

The employees believe they’re not getting compensated fairly with an offer of a 2.75 percent wage increase each year for the next three years, according to Skoog.

As for safety, the union wants the county to help pay for high-visibility outwear for crews, like jackets.

They also want visible weight information on trucks to prevent overloading and potential rollovers.

And finally, among other issues, the Teamsters want supervisors restricted from performing their jobs duties, like plowing, as they did in January 2020 during the previous strike.

As the Teamsters bargaining unit files for mediation with the state, St. Louis County released the following statement Friday to FOX 21:

“St. Louis County can confirm that the Teamsters Local 320 bargaining unit, which represents employees in the Public Works Highway Maintenance Division, has filed for mediation through the Bureau of Mediation Services. The county remains fully-committed to negotiations, and in this case mediation, to achieve a settlement that is fair and equitable to both our employees and to the residents and businesses we serve.

We respect the bargaining process and will continue to negotiate in good faith with all of our collective bargaining units.”