Teamsters agree to delay labor strike

BANGOR – An inability to come to terms on a labor agreement almost led to a strike Monday morning by the Teamsters against Lane Construction.

According to a union official, the strike was delayed at the last second when Gov. John Baldacci intervened.

James Carson, president of Teamsters Local 340 in South Portland, said Monday that Baldacci asked the union to wait to give him a chance to get the two sides to agree.

“I got a call from the governor last night,” Carson said. “There’s no deal yet, but we are getting closer.”

Carson said union officials plan to meet Wednesday with Baldacci to discuss the labor impasse.

A call to the governor’s office Monday was not returned.

At issue in the labor dispute are benefit increases the company has proposed in a three-year contract to its 70 or so unionized truck drivers in Maine, according to Carson. The construction company now is offering the drivers benefit increases totaling about $2.39 per hour over three years, Carson said, but the union has countered that the drivers need $2.53 per hour in benefit gains over the same time period to keep pace with cost-of-living increases.

Late last week, the two sides were about 50 cents apart on what the benefits should be worth, according to Carson. The drivers now get benefits such as health care and pension payments worth about $6 an hour, he said.

Several attempts to contact Lane Construction officials, both at its local offices and at its headquarters in Meriden, Conn., have been unsuccessful.

Laura Fortman, commissioner of the Maine Department of Labor, said Monday the state is aware of the contract dispute and hopes for a resolution as soon as possible.

Carson estimated that Lane employs between 200 and 300 people in Maine and “has about 50 percent” of the state’s annual road improvement budget. He said he was not sure which or what kind of road projects in Maine would be affected by a strike.