layoffs

Massachusetts Turnpike Authority is reducing their toll collector staff from around 375 to 275, according to spokesman Mac Daniel. Under the terms of the labor contract with the toll collectors' union the Turnpike offered advantageous payoffs to one-fifth or twenty of the collectors. They signed a voluntary severance agreement and got letters this week sealing the deals for them to walk.

Toll collectors have priced themselves out of a job at the Massachusetts Turnpike. The base pay plus benefits of a fulltime collector cost the Turnpike Authority $71k/yr ($35.70/hour). With seniority some staff collect tolls on a base rate of $80k/yr, and with overtime make as much as $90k/yr, the Turnpike Authority says. (Contract suppliers of toll collections services typically employ staff at about $11/hour or about $22k/yr with scant benefits.)