The negotiations are over a requested wage hike package, according to an LTM employee and union member who requested anonymity.

Dan Ratty, business representative for Local 962, confirmed that negotiations were under way, but declined to comment about specific points in the contract.

Bob Vaughn, chief operating officer and senior vice president of LTM, also declined to discuss the negotiations.

"But we are hopeful there will be a peaceful resolution of that process," he said.

The company is running classified ads in local newspapers seeking truck drivers and heavy equipment operators to serve as replacements in the event of a strike.

Sixty-four LTM employees are represented by Teamsters Local 962.

The company provides general contracting services for projects including highways, building sites, parking lots and driveways. It also provides construction materials such as crushed rock, sand and gravel, asphalt, ready-mix concrete and pre-cast concrete.

LTM was created in 1988 by a merger of M.C. Lininger & Sons Inc., which was founded in Ashland in 1928, with Tru-Mix Construction, founded in Medford in 1910.

LTM was purchased in 1990 by Inspiration Resources Corp., later known as Terra Industries.

In 1993, LTM Inc. and Rogue Aggregates were acquired by KRC Aggregates Inc. KRC is a business unit of MDU Resources Group Inc. of Bismarck, N.D.