ROMEOVILLE, Ill. — “10 Roads is making a lot of money and not sharing it. They should call it ‘10 Cash Registers.’ That’s why we’re camped out here,” Bert Mitchell, a member of Teamsters Local 727, told the Militant on the strike picket line here March 10.
“We work six days a week with no sick days,” he added. “When I was hired they said if you miss four days in a year you’re terminated.”
Tommy Wilcox, business agent for Local 727, said one of the issues in the strike is the company’s refusal to honor the Paid Leave for All Workers Act. This state law requires employers to give full-time workers at least five days of paid time off per year.
Another issue is wages. For the kind of work drivers do at 10 Roads Express, “the area standard is north of $40 per hour,” Wilcox said. “They’re at about $30 now. We want to close the gap.”
Local 727 has represented drivers at some of the 10 Roads locations in Illinois since 2019. The union is handing out flyers to drivers at nonunion company terminals inviting them to join the union and the strike.
Mitchell said many of the strikers don’t have a lot of experience with unions. He does. He was one of thousands of drivers who lost their jobs at Yellow Corp. in July 2023 when it closed down after workers refused to take concessions that would have gutted the union. “I’ve been driving for four decades. I try to stay in union jobs,” he said. “We need to stand up.”
The picket line here at 645 Forestwood Drive is up 24/7, with the majority of workers picketing in the mornings during their normal work shift. Help get the word out about their strike and pay them a visit!