Talks aimed at avoiding a strike of toll takers and other workers on the Pennsylvania Turnpike broke down earlier this week, the Turnpike Commission announced.

The breakdown once again raised the specter of a strike along the toll road, which could have a significant impact on truckers and others who use it.

The strike could include roughly 2,000 workers, including toll collectors and maintenance workers. Their contract expired Sept. 30, 2003, but union workers have continued to work under its terms while negotiations continued.

Talks this week broke down over the issue of retroactive pay and whether to compensate workers for any increase back to the 2003 date when the last contract expired.

No new talks are scheduled at this time.

Negotiations between turnpike officials and the Teamsters union – which represents the toll takers and maintenance workers – broke down previously in late October. The Teamsters informed state officials at that time that the union would reserve the right to call a strike at any time after that point without notice.

Joseph Brimmeier, CEO of the Turnpike, said in October that the agency was ready to run the road should a strike occur. Non-union employees are on standby.

Turnpike officials said earlier that in the event of a strike, passenger vehicles would pay a flat toll of $2, and trucks would pay a flat toll of $15, regardless of the distance they travel on the road. E-ZPass customers whose fares would normally be less than those amounts will pay the smaller of the two charges.

No tolls would be collected in some locations – such as the Clarks Summit and Keyser Avenue interchanges on the Northeast Extension – The Scranton Times Tribune reported.