Ohio pike offering $35k 'golden handshake' to toll collectors but they say it's a VSIP

Local press are calling it a $35k golden handshake for toll collectors at the Ohio Turnpike. Turnpike executive director George Distel says it is strictly a "voluntary separation incentive plan" - which we say deserves an acronym: VSIP (vee-sip). Fulltime employees who volunteer to leave the Turnpike will get the $35k VSIP. Part-timers are offered mini-VSIPs on a  sliding scale: $15k for those with 10 or more years of service, $10k for those 5 to 10 years of service and $5k for those who have worked for the Turnpike less than 5 years.

Retirees taking up the offer have until Dec 1. For others the offer is open through the end of March 2010.

Distel says the Turnpike has a surplus of 40 fulltime equivalent toll collector positions out of 280 fulltime and about 300 part-timers. Since he took over in April 2008 as executive-director the Turnpike hasn't hired any new fulltime employees and it has shed 28 by attrition. However the introduction of E-ZPass electronic tolling plus the decline in traffic due to the economy still leaves the Turnpike with 40 more toll collectors than needed.

"We're trying to avoid any layoffs if we possibly can," Distel told us today. He said it is partly a matter of not wanting - as a public agency - to add to unemployment.

Second, the labor contract with the Teamsters requires that part-time toll collectors be laid off ahead of fulltimers. Distel says this would leave the Turnpike with an unbalanced workforce.

They need to keep the part-timers to have the flexibility to handle changes in traffic, sickness, and holidays.

Finally layoffs are more costly to the Turnpike than voluntary departures of fulltime employees, especially with unemployment high. That's because of the cost of paying unemployment benefits and health insurance after a layoff. In today's labor market with far more workers than jobs laid-off workers can be a burden on the Turnpike for a long time, Distel says.

"We figure we're ahead after six months (with the $35k VSIP)."

Near-retirees targeted

Distel's hope is that most of the collectors who will accept the VSIP are ones who are ready to retire within the next year or so anyway. They generally have the savings and the houses paid off to leave employment without undue hardship.

Labor contracts on the other hand require some degree of last-hired/first-fired. That will tend to hit hardest the employees with the least savings and the least ability to move to a life of retirement.

At their meeting this week the Turnpike Commission approved Distel's plan for up to 40 VSIPs.

Distel told us toll collectors cost about $70k/year each full time equivalent in both pay and fringe benefits. By our calculation (40hrs x 48 weeks) that's about $30/hour. So if they take say 200 tolls/hour average the labor cost in collecting each toll is 15c. If they take only an average 150 tolls/hr the cost is 20c/toll.

TOLLROADSnews 2009-11-17