BY BEN L. KAUFMAN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
The strike by inland river towboat pilots has not reached the Tristate, the U.S. Coast Guard said Monday.
A third of the nation's 3,000 towboat pilots belong to Pilots Agree, which called the strike Saturday after industry leaders refused to discuss improved salaries and benefits.
Monday, the Coast Guard said 56 tows were tied up in New Orleans, Memphis or elsewhere on the lower Mississippi River.
Sunday, it was closer to 80.
The Coast Guard said the falling numbers indicate relief pilots replaced striking colleagues.
No pilots tied up above Louisville on the Ohio, Allegheny or Monongahela rivers on Monday, although a handful walked off the job in Louisville and Paducah on Sunday.
"They've had a very minimal impact on business," said Karen Coltrane, spokeswoman for the employers' organization, American Waterways Operators.
Paul Werner, a vice president for the operators organization, said more than 400 firms operate boats or barges on the inland rivers. Each negotiates salaries and benefits with its pilots.
Pilots command boats that push barges along the Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, Red, Illinois, Monongahela and Allegheny rivers. Assembled barges are called tows.
"They've had a very minimal impact on business.' Karen Coltrane, spokeswoman for employers
