Supporting CalTrans Toll Collectors and Custodians Facing Layoffs

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SEIU Local 1000 is working to mitigate the effects of a pending layoff of more than 150 bridge toll collectors and custodians working at CalTrans District 4 in the Bay Area.

Our union contract—in Article 16—has language that governs the layoff and reemployment process and we’re taking steps to ensure that our members have every opportunity to continue their state employment.

Those efforts include individual “options” meetings where employees learn what’s ahead and what choices they may opt for. At the same time, Local 1000 is reviewing how the affected members job classification may qualify them for other positions within Caltrans, or for other State jobs.

“This is not a typical layoff,” says Karen Jefferies, Unit 4 Bargaining Chair, who represents the toll collectors. “This is the closure of an entire CalTrans Office of Toll Collections (OTC), the end of a job classification, and it’s sad to see automation and the pandemic hasten the removal of the human element of toll collecting.”

“We’ll help them apply their transferable skills to new workplaces,” Karen added. An informational Zoom call will happen in the near future, and a meeting with CalHR and CalTrans will occur in early May.

The toll collectors stopped working in their booths in March 2020, due to concerns about the emerging coronavirus. On April 1 of this year, Caltrans announced that seven Bay Area bridges would switch to electronic toll collection.

For more information:

  • Know your rights: Read Article 16, Layoff and Reemployment, at contract.seiu1000.org
     
  • Call the Member Resource Center (MRC) at 866.471.SEIU (7341) 
     
  • Email – For Toll Collectors: Karen Jefferies, Chair of Bargaining Unit 4 & Matt Fisher, Contract Department staff at unit4@seiu1000.org
     
  • Email – For Custodians:  Maria Patterson, Chair of Bargaining Unit 15 & Molly Chlebnikow, Contract Department staff at unit15@seiu1000.org