BLOOMINGTON - Local union workers picketed at Twin City ready mix concrete plants on Tuesday. Bloomington's Teamsters Local 26 went on strike against Modahl & Scott in Bloomington and Twin Cities Ready Mix in Normal on Tuesday morning over wage and other contractual terms, said Teamsters President Pat Gleason.

Meanwhile, union workers with Ironworkers Local 112 also held an informational picket at Modahl & Scott, 917 E. Grove St. Workers began to picket at about 6:30 a.m. because Modahl & Scott has hired a non-union contractor that's getting ready to erect steel, said Johnnie Short, business manager for the East Peoria-based union.

Representatives for both companies declined comment.

The Teamsters union has historically had an agreement with Modahl & Scott that is substandard compared to its contract with Bloomington's McLean County Asphalt & Concrete, Gleason said.

"We're just trying to reach parity with the two groups," Gleason said. "One ready mix driver shouldn't be making a dollar and half less than another."

The issue has come up before, and Modahl & Scott has told the union it agreed parity should exist, but nothing has changed, Gleason said. Drivers for Modahl & Scott earn $18.60 an hour while McLean County Asphalt & Concrete drivers make $20.10 an hour.

"We've lived with this for well over 20 years. It's time for it to cease," Gleason said.

The union also wants to work out some health and welfare issues, he said.

The Teamsters also set up camp at Twin Cities Ready Mix, 1324 Fort Jesse Road. Drivers just organized as a union at the Normal company in February and have striked over a wide range of issues, also including salary, health and welfare, Gleason said.

Drivers there start at about $9 an hour and make up to $19 an hour with the bulk of drivers earning about $11, Gleason said. That's not acceptable when a typical driver earns more than $19 an hour, he said.

Union workers also do not have a retirement fund, and the company took away vacation time from employees in January, he said.

The number of workers who walked off the job was not immediately known.

Meanwhile, ironworkers held their informational picket as a means of notifying the public that union workers should have the steel jobs at the plant, Short said.