If you believe Illinois road and bridge projects are taking longer to complete, you are not imagining anything. The data is clear: Fewer Illinois infrastructure projects are being completed, at a much higher cost to the taxpayer.
Historically, highways, roads and bridges in Illinois have been proudly designed, maintained and improved by Teamsters Local 916 civil engineers and engineer technicians. That proud history is now at risk, to the detriment of communities across the state.
The Rebuild Illinois program, along with the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, invested billions of much-needed funding into updating the state’s transportation system. However, since Rebuild Illinois was implemented, the Illinois Department of Transportation has drastically increased the use of nonunion consultants.
According to a summary statement provided by IDOT, these outside contractors currently work the equivalent of an additional 1,013 full-time employees, at a cost of more than $675 million. Internally, IDOT admitted the use of these contractors and consultants has quintupled in the past three years alone.
The driving force behind this massive and expensive shift in staffing is the apathetic hiring approach taken by IDOT and Central Management Services. Based on conversations with several applicants, many civil engineers who were deemed qualified after interviews have been waiting for a year or longer to be offered a position.
Very low pay has also been a factor in IDOT’s staffing shortage. According to the most recent American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials Salary Survey, salaries for IDOT engineering staff are consistently ranked in the bottom 10 states in America.
Contractors are overseen by full-time employees, which means IDOT staff are now managing and training consultants who make significantly more than they do. Despite Teamsters’ efforts to communicate this disturbing trend to Central Management Services over the past three years, they are continuing to fail the employees who diligently work for the department.
With the increased utilization of nonunion contractors, the rates of productivity and completion of projects have gone down drastically. Based on an IDOT report to our local union, from fiscal years 2020 to 2024 the number of projects awarded dropped from 69.6% to 54.7%. Similarly, the amount of funds awarded dropped from 67.9% to 55.3%. Given this inequity and demoralizing environment, it shouldn’t be surprising that the state is having trouble finding new applicants.
Federal government weighs in on safety oversight
The situation has gotten so bad the hiring crisis at IDOT has been recognized by the federal government. The U.S. Department of Transportation issued a Special Directive regarding IDOT’s practice of insufficient staffing levels in their State Safety Oversight Program. That report noted that seven of 10 staffers are contractors.
The state of Illinois cannot continue this race to the bottom, and I am proud to stand beside my Teamsters brothers and sisters and the quality work they do to keep our state’s infrastructure in peak shape.
The status quo of mismanagement and reliance on non-union consultants is a waste of time and money and an affront to the taxpayers of Illinois, who deserve so much better from their government. For the sake of efficiency, quality and cost, we must demand accountability from IDOT and CMS.
JP Fyans is president of Teamsters Local 916, which represents over 4,000 working men and women throughout Illinois.
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