New language was bargained at the ODOT Coalition Bargaining Table for TMS 1s. The intent of this language was to pay TMS 1s the same as TMS 2s when they are working along side TMS 2s, doing the same work.
I believe the principle is simple: Equal Pay for Equal Work.
The history of this bargaining is that in some areas of the state managers of maintenance crews "borrow" TMS 1s to fill out crews for projects. The managers work TMS 1 Tom for one day less than the time required to pay the TMS 1 Work Out of Class Pay (Article 26,Section 11). The manager sends TMS 1 Tom back to the landscape crew and begins to work TMS 1 Pete; again working him one day less than needed to pay him for working above his pay grade.
It is good that the agency and our managers are always thinking about ways to save money. An efficient organization, using our citizens resources frugally is good. In some ways clever.
However, frugal is not always fair.
The point came home here a year or two ago. TMS 1 crew members were assigned to work with a TMS 2 maintenance crew for a paving project. The TMS 1s were asked to teach some TMS 2s the skills needed for paving. Some TMS 1s have been working for the agency for over 20 years; many TMS 2s have less than 5.
TMS 1s work to support their families. They have the right to try to improve their place in the agency and the world. Our Union has the responsibility to assist members to improve their pay and benefits and to keep their work sites safe.
If you are one of the folks I have recently heard of who disapproves of this new language and have been giving our TMS 1s a hard time for it - you are wrong. If you disapprove of this language - you disapprove of Equal Pay for Equal Work. If you are harassing a TMS 1 about this new language - do you also believe he/she should not have the right to do better for their family?
As the president of ODOT Local 730 I pushed for these changes to our collective bargaining agreement. If you have problems with the language talk to me.
Discussing all aspects of Our Union is part of my job. I welcome your opinions regardless of whether I agree with them.
mac
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Sunday, July 24, 2011
2011 Bargaining & Ratification
The 23 July 2011 Bargaining Conference is done. The bargaining delegates from all coalitions voted to send the Tentative Agreement (TA) Contract to the members with a recommendation to approve (ratify). This includes the Central Table (pay and benefits) and all of the Coalition Table negotiated agreements.
Some of the main points include:
Cost of Living Allowances, Article 27, 1.5% increase December of 2011; 1.45% increase January of 2013;
½ Step increase on your Salary Eligibility Date (SED) on or after July 2012 and the other ½ Step increase 6 months later, but no later than 30 June 2013. Employees who have received step increases as of 1 June 2011 will not receive another. They also will not be rolled back as in the last contract;
Furlough days, Letter of Agreement for Mandatory Unpaid Time Off (MUTO), much the same as last contract – 10, 12 or 14 days during the two years of the contract. There are some changes to how they are taken. There are two LOAs for furlough days: 191 for how many days – at which pay levels and 193 for implementation. In implementation those folks who work alternate shifts will no longer need to use vacation time to accomodate the 8 hour blocks. The 8 hour blocks went away. The letter lays out that you take your furlough days in your normal shifts. You will need to take the remainder of your furlough time in a partial day. So if you work 8 hour, 9 hour or 10 hour shifts that is how you will use your furlough days. There is also added flexibility in that “employees may volunteer to take unpaid holidays, unpaid vacation days, or a salary reduction. . .”;
In Coalition Bargaining (Article #.3) there are also some improvements. Article 36.3AC (Travel) now has the living language provisions so the non-commercial per diem automatically updates. All per diems used to require increasing or adjusting at the bargaining tables.
Article 58 and Article 58.3 (Holidays) both have some changes. The ‘each and every’ language has been deleted in 58. There is new comp time language in 58.3. Also, there was holiday language in our old 90.3; that has been deleted from 90.3, all holiday language is in 58.3. In theory.
Article 90.3A will have several changes. An LOA was written in 2009 regarding Penalty Pay for schedule changes without notice; most of that LOA has been moved into 90.3. Moved into base language was the LOA regarding missed breaks for the Transportation Operations Centers and the Interstate Bridge crews. There is new language for Motor Carrier Enforcement Officers when helping with road closures.
There is a new LOA regarding holidays and flexing work schedules to prevent loosing 2 hours of vacation on holidays.
The email I sent you will have bullet sheets as attachments so you can review the summaries of both the Central Table and Coalition table changes. There is more, much more there.
The bargaining conference was a little rowdy. Every bargaining conference has some vocal members who want to strike. Every new contract insults someone along the way. Fair and comprehensive negotiations rarely result in all persons, on both sides, being happy with the results. The Central Table bargaining team members are not pleased with some of the results. Frequently, when the State bargaining team does not want to agree to our point they claim to not understand. Some of the points our team made regarding pay and insurance were absolutely rooted in mathematical logic. Mathematics is either correct or incorrect. Our team showed mathematically correct ways to save money or make the same dollars do more. Many of the State bargaining team members have jobs that are number working jobs. For their leadership to have said they do not understand the numbers is to say they do not understand multiplication and division.
I believe the governor was always behind every decision. I know he has definite goals regarding health care and health insurance. In some way Our Union’s sense of fairness does not fit his goals. At Central Table Bargaining neither the Governor nor his Bargaining Team were straight forward about this. They would only talk about a finite dollar value that was not enough or they did not understand what we were saying.
Perhaps the bargaining table is not the place discuss matters in a straight forward manner.
There will be a ballot coming to you, coming to all members. The decision will be to ratify the contract. If you vote to ratify the contract, then you accept it. If you vote to not ratify the contract then you vote to possibly go out on strike. To fail to ratify does not guarantee a strike. It only guarantees that the bargaining delegates must come together and explore the options.
Look around you. Do you know your crew? Do you know others on crews around you? Can everyone afford to strike? How long can you & they afford to strike?
I want you to vote as you think is correct. I will vote to ratify. The next big fight in the Legislature and the press is our retirement. I want SEIU 503, OPEU to gear up and start on Monday to protect PERS, the 6% pickup (that we bargained for instead of a pay raise, in years past) and our member’s future.
Thank you for your time. Thank you for sharing this information with your crews. I am sure 503 will have more information on the 503 website next week. Everyone was tired and went home after the meeting on Saturday and the actual bargaining until eleven or twelve Friday night. As always it will take several months to proof read and publish the contracts. Hopefully they will be available on-line at the 503 website before then. I continue to insist that hardcopies be available for worksites where employees do not use a computer to make a living.
We, you and I are the face of Our Union. This hard work is Member Organizing. Thank you for your work. mac
Some of the main points include:
Cost of Living Allowances, Article 27, 1.5% increase December of 2011; 1.45% increase January of 2013;
½ Step increase on your Salary Eligibility Date (SED) on or after July 2012 and the other ½ Step increase 6 months later, but no later than 30 June 2013. Employees who have received step increases as of 1 June 2011 will not receive another. They also will not be rolled back as in the last contract;
Furlough days, Letter of Agreement for Mandatory Unpaid Time Off (MUTO), much the same as last contract – 10, 12 or 14 days during the two years of the contract. There are some changes to how they are taken. There are two LOAs for furlough days: 191 for how many days – at which pay levels and 193 for implementation. In implementation those folks who work alternate shifts will no longer need to use vacation time to accomodate the 8 hour blocks. The 8 hour blocks went away. The letter lays out that you take your furlough days in your normal shifts. You will need to take the remainder of your furlough time in a partial day. So if you work 8 hour, 9 hour or 10 hour shifts that is how you will use your furlough days. There is also added flexibility in that “employees may volunteer to take unpaid holidays, unpaid vacation days, or a salary reduction. . .”;
In Coalition Bargaining (Article #.3) there are also some improvements. Article 36.3AC (Travel) now has the living language provisions so the non-commercial per diem automatically updates. All per diems used to require increasing or adjusting at the bargaining tables.
Article 58 and Article 58.3 (Holidays) both have some changes. The ‘each and every’ language has been deleted in 58. There is new comp time language in 58.3. Also, there was holiday language in our old 90.3; that has been deleted from 90.3, all holiday language is in 58.3. In theory.
Article 90.3A will have several changes. An LOA was written in 2009 regarding Penalty Pay for schedule changes without notice; most of that LOA has been moved into 90.3. Moved into base language was the LOA regarding missed breaks for the Transportation Operations Centers and the Interstate Bridge crews. There is new language for Motor Carrier Enforcement Officers when helping with road closures.
There is a new LOA regarding holidays and flexing work schedules to prevent loosing 2 hours of vacation on holidays.
The email I sent you will have bullet sheets as attachments so you can review the summaries of both the Central Table and Coalition table changes. There is more, much more there.
The bargaining conference was a little rowdy. Every bargaining conference has some vocal members who want to strike. Every new contract insults someone along the way. Fair and comprehensive negotiations rarely result in all persons, on both sides, being happy with the results. The Central Table bargaining team members are not pleased with some of the results. Frequently, when the State bargaining team does not want to agree to our point they claim to not understand. Some of the points our team made regarding pay and insurance were absolutely rooted in mathematical logic. Mathematics is either correct or incorrect. Our team showed mathematically correct ways to save money or make the same dollars do more. Many of the State bargaining team members have jobs that are number working jobs. For their leadership to have said they do not understand the numbers is to say they do not understand multiplication and division.
I believe the governor was always behind every decision. I know he has definite goals regarding health care and health insurance. In some way Our Union’s sense of fairness does not fit his goals. At Central Table Bargaining neither the Governor nor his Bargaining Team were straight forward about this. They would only talk about a finite dollar value that was not enough or they did not understand what we were saying.
Perhaps the bargaining table is not the place discuss matters in a straight forward manner.
There will be a ballot coming to you, coming to all members. The decision will be to ratify the contract. If you vote to ratify the contract, then you accept it. If you vote to not ratify the contract then you vote to possibly go out on strike. To fail to ratify does not guarantee a strike. It only guarantees that the bargaining delegates must come together and explore the options.
Look around you. Do you know your crew? Do you know others on crews around you? Can everyone afford to strike? How long can you & they afford to strike?
I want you to vote as you think is correct. I will vote to ratify. The next big fight in the Legislature and the press is our retirement. I want SEIU 503, OPEU to gear up and start on Monday to protect PERS, the 6% pickup (that we bargained for instead of a pay raise, in years past) and our member’s future.
Thank you for your time. Thank you for sharing this information with your crews. I am sure 503 will have more information on the 503 website next week. Everyone was tired and went home after the meeting on Saturday and the actual bargaining until eleven or twelve Friday night. As always it will take several months to proof read and publish the contracts. Hopefully they will be available on-line at the 503 website before then. I continue to insist that hardcopies be available for worksites where employees do not use a computer to make a living.
We, you and I are the face of Our Union. This hard work is Member Organizing. Thank you for your work. mac
Saturday, May 7, 2011
May 20th
Central Table: Pay and Benefits. Base articles such as Article 10, Article 90 are bargained at the Central Table.
Coalition Table: Working conditions unique to the coalition or to the specific agency. Article 10.3, Article 90.3 and so on are bargained at the Coalition Table. Our coalition includes ODOT, DMV, Parks, Forestry, ODFW and Aviation. Boots and blue jeans; much of the work is out of doors.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I have been waiting for several weeks to write this. Waiting for some stone to fall out of the dump bed of the 99 Freightliner - ring my hard hat - and I write words that send you all to Salem. Well the weather is warming, the ground is thawing and it is not likely that hell is going to freeze over this month . . . or next.
A month or so ago I did send an email out to a few folks in every region letting them know that bargaining sucks for wages and benefits. The new governor has allowed a sum too small to even maintain our current pay and benefits in his proposed budget.
I had thought that coalition bargaining was going well; the State had said they want to be done by May 16th. If we had done so it would have been the earliest finish for the ODOT Coalition in literally years, maybe decades. Last Monday the State (management) bargaining team came to the table smiling. The rest of it was not pretty. They laid out their offer and told us that if we argued, any questions, and they would pull it off the table. Any hope of an early finish went out the window with that statement. We have asked to have a mediator present to finish bargaining.
In Bargaining as in many other Labor Management functions - the relationship is not one of taking orders. I and other delegates do not work for Management when we are bargaining. I and other delegates do not work for the agency when we go to the legislature to lobby for bills and points of view. I work for you. We don't take orders from the management bargaining delegates. Therefore I ask questions.
At the Central Table Monday it was the States turn to bring something NEW to the table. Did not happen. They brought the same sum to small in a different dress. Lots of scenarios describing how we could help them cut our pay, reduce our health care and make managers jobs easier.
May 20th.
In 2009, on June 7th, Sunday morning at 11:30 several thousand State Workers met in Portland at the Eastbank Esplanade. We 'marched' across the Hawthorne Bridge to the Terry Schrunk Plaza. Signs were waived. Slogans were chanted. Speeches were spoken. Music was played. Cheers were heard. Politicians came out. We had fun; got back on the buses and went home.
The next week the Oregon Legislature leadership wrote a letter to the governor. It seemed at the time that the governor was seeking to balance the budget by having all employees take 28 furlough days. The end result of the legislators letter was only 14 furlough days (14, 12, 10). The letter told the governor that state employees could not be responsible for the entire shortfall.
The March Across Hawthorne Bridge worked.
This coming May 20th is a Friday and a Furlough Day for those on fixed days. A rally in the Capitol Plaza has been scheduled. No march. Buses from the hinterlands as before.
Folks will 'rally'. Signs will be waived. Slogans will be chanted. Speeches will be spoken. Music will be played. Cheers will be heard. Politicians will come out. We will get back on the buses and return to the hinterlands.
It would be good to see 20,000 public employees there. SEIU 503 represents 40 some odd thousand. I want to see 1000 Oregon Department of Transportation employees there. ODOT Local 730 represents 1900.
Here is the point. The rally by itself does not do a thing. The speeches, chants, music & politicians by themselves don't get it done. We do. Large numbers of voters are seen by politicians. Large numbers of Union Members are seen by the governor and management.
So here is my ask: Be there. That is all. I do not give a damn if you do not chant, do not cheer do not sing along to the music. Just be there. Be seen.
I don't care if you are fair share or a member. No one looking out at the crowd is going to know. Bring your family. Bring a friend or several. Ride the bus, ride your motorcycle or drive your pick-up. Be there.
Make a difference in your future. Make an impression on the governor and legislators. Let them know that we know what is going on in bargaining. Let them know.
A little before 5:am on Friday the 20th of May, behind the LaGrande Library I will get on the bus headed to Salem. See you there. mac
Coalition Table: Working conditions unique to the coalition or to the specific agency. Article 10.3, Article 90.3 and so on are bargained at the Coalition Table. Our coalition includes ODOT, DMV, Parks, Forestry, ODFW and Aviation. Boots and blue jeans; much of the work is out of doors.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I have been waiting for several weeks to write this. Waiting for some stone to fall out of the dump bed of the 99 Freightliner - ring my hard hat - and I write words that send you all to Salem. Well the weather is warming, the ground is thawing and it is not likely that hell is going to freeze over this month . . . or next.
A month or so ago I did send an email out to a few folks in every region letting them know that bargaining sucks for wages and benefits. The new governor has allowed a sum too small to even maintain our current pay and benefits in his proposed budget.
I had thought that coalition bargaining was going well; the State had said they want to be done by May 16th. If we had done so it would have been the earliest finish for the ODOT Coalition in literally years, maybe decades. Last Monday the State (management) bargaining team came to the table smiling. The rest of it was not pretty. They laid out their offer and told us that if we argued, any questions, and they would pull it off the table. Any hope of an early finish went out the window with that statement. We have asked to have a mediator present to finish bargaining.
In Bargaining as in many other Labor Management functions - the relationship is not one of taking orders. I and other delegates do not work for Management when we are bargaining. I and other delegates do not work for the agency when we go to the legislature to lobby for bills and points of view. I work for you. We don't take orders from the management bargaining delegates. Therefore I ask questions.
At the Central Table Monday it was the States turn to bring something NEW to the table. Did not happen. They brought the same sum to small in a different dress. Lots of scenarios describing how we could help them cut our pay, reduce our health care and make managers jobs easier.
May 20th.
In 2009, on June 7th, Sunday morning at 11:30 several thousand State Workers met in Portland at the Eastbank Esplanade. We 'marched' across the Hawthorne Bridge to the Terry Schrunk Plaza. Signs were waived. Slogans were chanted. Speeches were spoken. Music was played. Cheers were heard. Politicians came out. We had fun; got back on the buses and went home.
The next week the Oregon Legislature leadership wrote a letter to the governor. It seemed at the time that the governor was seeking to balance the budget by having all employees take 28 furlough days. The end result of the legislators letter was only 14 furlough days (14, 12, 10). The letter told the governor that state employees could not be responsible for the entire shortfall.
The March Across Hawthorne Bridge worked.
This coming May 20th is a Friday and a Furlough Day for those on fixed days. A rally in the Capitol Plaza has been scheduled. No march. Buses from the hinterlands as before.
Folks will 'rally'. Signs will be waived. Slogans will be chanted. Speeches will be spoken. Music will be played. Cheers will be heard. Politicians will come out. We will get back on the buses and return to the hinterlands.
It would be good to see 20,000 public employees there. SEIU 503 represents 40 some odd thousand. I want to see 1000 Oregon Department of Transportation employees there. ODOT Local 730 represents 1900.
Here is the point. The rally by itself does not do a thing. The speeches, chants, music & politicians by themselves don't get it done. We do. Large numbers of voters are seen by politicians. Large numbers of Union Members are seen by the governor and management.
So here is my ask: Be there. That is all. I do not give a damn if you do not chant, do not cheer do not sing along to the music. Just be there. Be seen.
I don't care if you are fair share or a member. No one looking out at the crowd is going to know. Bring your family. Bring a friend or several. Ride the bus, ride your motorcycle or drive your pick-up. Be there.
Make a difference in your future. Make an impression on the governor and legislators. Let them know that we know what is going on in bargaining. Let them know.
A little before 5:am on Friday the 20th of May, behind the LaGrande Library I will get on the bus headed to Salem. See you there. mac
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
SICK LEAVE
Recently, folks may have noticed that sick leave has a higher profile. It seems more managers are talking about sick leave with employees. Where I work crew members are talking about it more with each other. Sick leave is now a topic during performance reviews & coffee breaks. Furlough Days have put pressure on crews & their managers by removing two weeks of production per employee each biennium.
Several years ago the state, through the Department of Administrative Services (DAS) decided that employees would no longer ‘cash out’ their sick leave balances upon retirement. The gist of the argument was that Vacation Leave belongs to the employee; Sick Leave belongs to the state or the employer. At the time, we, labor did not fight the decision; I am not sure why, I suspect there was a legal case that set precedent.
I bring this history up because during the time previous to this decision many, if not most employees sought to build up their sick leave balances, looking toward retirement. If that employee had 160 hours of sick leave at the time of retirement – it was the equivalent of a months pay. The point is that sick leave balances across the agency were high. I could argue artificially high.
Since that decision leave balances have declined. I do not think that is to surprising; the incentive to bank sick leave against retirement was removed. It is also possible that employees attitudes toward sick leave have also changed.
In light of the above - employees sick leave use and balances have become a topic of conversation. In some cases an employee’s sick leave balance has appeared in the written annual performance review. In other cases employees have been told they are no longer considered dependable employees because of their sick leave balance (regardless of their job performance).
Through the Labor / Management Committee process, ODOT Local 730, SEIU 503, OPEU has made it known to the agency that we consider this trend to be in error. To write an employee’s sick leave ‘performance’ into annual performance reviews is to declare a standard. This standard has not been formally declared by the agency, is undefined and is vague at best.
To ODOT’s credit, the Director, Matt Garrett and the Central Services Manager, Clyde Sakai, have agreed that there is no such standard and the use of sick leave in performance reviews is generally not the correct approach. Generally, not the correct approach.
I said above that it is possible that employees' attitudes regarding their sick leave use has changed. Sick leave can and should be used when an employee (or family member) is sick, has medical appointments, treatments, etc. See Article 56 & 56.3 of our collective bargaining agreement.
The state, considers sick leave to belong to the employer; it is on the books as a fiscal liability. If an employee uses sick leave for the last two hours on Friday to go coach his soccer team, he is stealing from the employer. If an employee is ‘sick’ every 3rd Wednesday afternoon to feed folks at the local homeless shelter, she is stealing from the agency. If you are just using down your sick leave balance before you retire but are not sick – it is not sick leave.
Our Union, Your Union does not support employees stealing from our agency. We believe that as public servants we work at a higher standard. A higher standard that we set for ourselves and hold ourselves accountable for.
It is my understanding that currently your sick leave balance can make a positive difference in your retirement calculation. I do not know how and do not believe it is as significant as a decade ago. If you are close to retirement you should ask a PERS consultant what the difference is. I do not believe that benefit will exist much longer. There are bills in the state legislature to again change the retirement program.
Lastly, I believe most managers who encourage their employees to keep a higher sick leave balance have seen fellow employees fall sick unexpectedly (how many of us expect to get sick?). ODOT employees perform many of the occupations that fall on the workman’s comp list of most dangerous jobs. We do get hurt. Your sick leave account is a savings account; I encourage you to manage your sick leave wisely.
mac
Recently, folks may have noticed that sick leave has a higher profile. It seems more managers are talking about sick leave with employees. Where I work crew members are talking about it more with each other. Sick leave is now a topic during performance reviews & coffee breaks. Furlough Days have put pressure on crews & their managers by removing two weeks of production per employee each biennium.
Several years ago the state, through the Department of Administrative Services (DAS) decided that employees would no longer ‘cash out’ their sick leave balances upon retirement. The gist of the argument was that Vacation Leave belongs to the employee; Sick Leave belongs to the state or the employer. At the time, we, labor did not fight the decision; I am not sure why, I suspect there was a legal case that set precedent.
I bring this history up because during the time previous to this decision many, if not most employees sought to build up their sick leave balances, looking toward retirement. If that employee had 160 hours of sick leave at the time of retirement – it was the equivalent of a months pay. The point is that sick leave balances across the agency were high. I could argue artificially high.
Since that decision leave balances have declined. I do not think that is to surprising; the incentive to bank sick leave against retirement was removed. It is also possible that employees attitudes toward sick leave have also changed.
In light of the above - employees sick leave use and balances have become a topic of conversation. In some cases an employee’s sick leave balance has appeared in the written annual performance review. In other cases employees have been told they are no longer considered dependable employees because of their sick leave balance (regardless of their job performance).
Through the Labor / Management Committee process, ODOT Local 730, SEIU 503, OPEU has made it known to the agency that we consider this trend to be in error. To write an employee’s sick leave ‘performance’ into annual performance reviews is to declare a standard. This standard has not been formally declared by the agency, is undefined and is vague at best.
To ODOT’s credit, the Director, Matt Garrett and the Central Services Manager, Clyde Sakai, have agreed that there is no such standard and the use of sick leave in performance reviews is generally not the correct approach. Generally, not the correct approach.
I said above that it is possible that employees' attitudes regarding their sick leave use has changed. Sick leave can and should be used when an employee (or family member) is sick, has medical appointments, treatments, etc. See Article 56 & 56.3 of our collective bargaining agreement.
The state, considers sick leave to belong to the employer; it is on the books as a fiscal liability. If an employee uses sick leave for the last two hours on Friday to go coach his soccer team, he is stealing from the employer. If an employee is ‘sick’ every 3rd Wednesday afternoon to feed folks at the local homeless shelter, she is stealing from the agency. If you are just using down your sick leave balance before you retire but are not sick – it is not sick leave.
Our Union, Your Union does not support employees stealing from our agency. We believe that as public servants we work at a higher standard. A higher standard that we set for ourselves and hold ourselves accountable for.
It is my understanding that currently your sick leave balance can make a positive difference in your retirement calculation. I do not know how and do not believe it is as significant as a decade ago. If you are close to retirement you should ask a PERS consultant what the difference is. I do not believe that benefit will exist much longer. There are bills in the state legislature to again change the retirement program.
Lastly, I believe most managers who encourage their employees to keep a higher sick leave balance have seen fellow employees fall sick unexpectedly (how many of us expect to get sick?). ODOT employees perform many of the occupations that fall on the workman’s comp list of most dangerous jobs. We do get hurt. Your sick leave account is a savings account; I encourage you to manage your sick leave wisely.
mac
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Governor Kitzhaber’s Proposed Budget 2011
http://governor.oregon.gov/Gov/docs/priorities/BUDGET_Full_Budget.pdf
Governor Kitzhaber’s budget is at the link shown above. This is a big picture look at Oregon’s state budget. You won’t find your crew budget for 2011 – 2013 in here.
It is a proposed budget. That is important. Our governor and his staff have done their homework and studies and house calls and conferences – etc. This is their proposal to do a number of things. It is a proposal to have a balanced budget. It is a proposal to have smaller more effective state government. It is a proposal to start to look at education from cradle to elderhood. It is a proposal to use government to encourage others to create jobs for Oregonians.
Those of us who remember John Kitzhaber’s first go round remember his ground breaking changes with healthcare and medicine. The introduction to this first budget of his new administration talks about education, jobs and education. He does talk about healthcare and public safety, but it doesn’t take long to see where his emphasis is.
The budget document is 395 pages long. Not very many of us are going to read it cover to cover. I do encourage you to open the link and look around. You can learn things about your state and your agency. You can learn that Transportation Expenditures are 7% of the total proposed budget (page A-13). You can learn that the Department of Aviation, founded in 1921, was the first government aviation agency in the United States. It is also to be merged with ODOT (pg G-3). The Oregon State Police are to come back into the Highway Fund in January of 2012. If you are interested in our agency's radio network see page G-6.
I am interested on page M-6 to see that the Governor has plans to rebuild my shop (ODOT Meacham) in the 2013 – 2015 biennium. We’ll see. The Highway User Tax is explained on page M-17. All sorts of information.
Throughout the budget are all sorts of tables and graphs. You can see that our proposed budget is to be reduced by $295 million (pg O-73). We are to gain 6 full time equivalent employees (could be more than 6 actual persons working less than full time) (pg G-5).
There is a lot to see in the Governor’s proposal. All of this proposal must be passed by the state legislature. I think most of us know that change is coming. As individuals we can worry about it, fight it – and get swept away with the tide. My hope is that members of ODOT Local 730 will look for change; will help shape the change as it comes. ODOT is a vastly different agency than when it started in 1929. Our mission statement has changed many times, but not our core mission: To make Oregon a better place.
I am sure we are up to it. mac
Governor Kitzhaber’s budget is at the link shown above. This is a big picture look at Oregon’s state budget. You won’t find your crew budget for 2011 – 2013 in here.
It is a proposed budget. That is important. Our governor and his staff have done their homework and studies and house calls and conferences – etc. This is their proposal to do a number of things. It is a proposal to have a balanced budget. It is a proposal to have smaller more effective state government. It is a proposal to start to look at education from cradle to elderhood. It is a proposal to use government to encourage others to create jobs for Oregonians.
Those of us who remember John Kitzhaber’s first go round remember his ground breaking changes with healthcare and medicine. The introduction to this first budget of his new administration talks about education, jobs and education. He does talk about healthcare and public safety, but it doesn’t take long to see where his emphasis is.
The budget document is 395 pages long. Not very many of us are going to read it cover to cover. I do encourage you to open the link and look around. You can learn things about your state and your agency. You can learn that Transportation Expenditures are 7% of the total proposed budget (page A-13). You can learn that the Department of Aviation, founded in 1921, was the first government aviation agency in the United States. It is also to be merged with ODOT (pg G-3). The Oregon State Police are to come back into the Highway Fund in January of 2012. If you are interested in our agency's radio network see page G-6.
I am interested on page M-6 to see that the Governor has plans to rebuild my shop (ODOT Meacham) in the 2013 – 2015 biennium. We’ll see. The Highway User Tax is explained on page M-17. All sorts of information.
Throughout the budget are all sorts of tables and graphs. You can see that our proposed budget is to be reduced by $295 million (pg O-73). We are to gain 6 full time equivalent employees (could be more than 6 actual persons working less than full time) (pg G-5).
There is a lot to see in the Governor’s proposal. All of this proposal must be passed by the state legislature. I think most of us know that change is coming. As individuals we can worry about it, fight it – and get swept away with the tide. My hope is that members of ODOT Local 730 will look for change; will help shape the change as it comes. ODOT is a vastly different agency than when it started in 1929. Our mission statement has changed many times, but not our core mission: To make Oregon a better place.
I am sure we are up to it. mac
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