ALTON – The City of Alton is preparing to fire striking workers over alleged “behavior on the picket line” as union representatives say their members’ health insurance was dropped without warning.
Business Agent Jay Steinhauer with Teamsters Local 525 confirmed on Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2026, that union members received a letter the day prior from the city’s third-party attorney, Corey Franklin, stating the city intends to fire striking workers over certain picketing behavior which Steinhauer denies.
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“We were sent a letter yesterday that the city is intending on disciplining and firing striking members for their behavior on the picket line,” Steinhauer said. “I discussed this with a City Councilwoman earlier today and she knew nothing of the fact – so we’re getting letters from a third-party attorney that is not going through the City Council, stating that they’re going to fire employees for their behavior on a strike line.”
In one instance, the city’s legal representative claims striking members obstructed an Alton Police vehicle from responding to a certain area. According to Steinhauer, Alton Police Chief Jarrett Ford confirmed striking members were “not the problem.” The union’s picket leader also confirmed with the first responding officer that they were not obstructing the roadway or blocking the officer from responding.
The city’s attorney also claims striking workers were blocking the roadway at one point by standing in a crosswalk. Steinhauer said union members have been instructed not to stand in the roadway or obstruct traffic, but noted state law requires drivers to stop for all pedestrians actively using a crosswalk to cross the street.
Steinhauer also confirmed the city abruptly cut union members’ health insurance on Oct. 3, 2026, since they worked less than 30 hours over their latest pay period. Members were notified of their insurance being cut nearly a week later in an Oct. 9, 2026 email from the city’s Human Resources department.
While the union expected members to lose their insurance at some point, Steinhauer said they repeatedly reached out to the city to confirm when their insurance would be dropped and never received a response. Steinhauer also noted health insurance payments were deducted from union members’ most recent paychecks despite their insurance being canceled by the city.
Steinhauer said the Teamsters are unable to offer their members an alternative insurance option in the meantime, since insurance is handled through their employer, the City of Alton. To offset the lack of wages and insurance, Steinhauer said union members have been receiving enhanced benefits of $1,000 per week while on strike.
If the city goes through with firing workers on strike, Steinhauer said the Teamsters will “absolutely” seek relief for wrongful termination, stating: “We will explore every avenue to make sure that employees are only terminated for lawful violations.”
Negotiations between the Teamsters and the city remain at a standstill after an Oct. 1, 2026 meeting with Alton officials on the topic of insurance yielded “nothing productive,” the union representative said. However, he said city officials indicated they would at least consider an offer from the Teamsters to cover all city employees under the TeamstersCare health plan.
Both sides also remain at an impasse on the issue of pay raises, with Teamsters standing firm on their demands for a 4% annual pay raise or a total 16% pay increase by the end of their next contract term in 2029. Meanwhile, the city has not budged from its previous offer of a 3% annual pay raise.
“They haven’t moved off of their numbers, so why should we move off of ours? If the city decides that they want to negotiate, we’d be happy to negotiate those numbers,” Steinhauer said. “We really think that 4% is fair ... that’s less than 30 cents per hour for each individual on their check, that adds up to about $600 per year per person – that’s not an astronomical number.”
A meeting between the Teamsters and the city’s attorney is tentatively scheduled for the afternoon of Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026. However, Steinhauer said union members would seek to cancel the meeting if the city’s attorney is unable to confirm in advance their authority to discuss any new information.
Steinhauer concluded: “No one’s saying, ‘It’s got to be our way or the highway,’ but they have to negotiate, and they’re just not doing that.”
