The End is Just the Beginning

There's just 18 months to get ready for bargaining! Yup. You read it right. ODOT Local 730 cannot wait until 2009 to start to get ready for the next round of contract bargaining.

Yes, I think we did fairly well this round. All mechanics got a leg up in their selectives. Which they worked hard for during negociations. Parts & supply specialists. Our lowest job classification got moved from Salary Range 6 to SR 8. TOS's & TMC's got SR selectives. Article 122 values are up. Also, the managment bargaining team brought language to the table to weaken our seniority rights. This was in response to a grievance & arbitration won by Our Union and Kurt Kinder of ODOT Pendleton. Your Coalition bargaining team helped them see that their proposal was backward.

But on to 2009. This session, we struggled when we could not provide numbers to back up our proposals. Occassionally we could not articulate what we were trying to fix; yes it seemed like a good idea, but why? We could not always define the group of Union Members that were affected by our proposals. We could not always say we had addressed the issue at our statewide Labor/Management meeting.

The ask. If you see something you would like to get changed in our contract start researching it now. What article of the contract do you want to change? What do you want to change? Who does it affect? Is there a cost associated? Why do you want to change the language?

You may not be able to answer all the questions but give them consideration. When you are ready to talk about them contact an ODOT Local 730 officer or activist; Troy Barnard, our statewide organizer; or your area SEIU 503 organizer.

Here is a real life example of what we are trying to accomplish. Dan Metz is the TMC 1 on the ODOT Heppner crew. Dan went to Salem and did the presentation for the TMC selective. He made an excellent presentation. TMC's did get a selective, but not what they targeted. Starting now, Dan is looking at his proposal; in light of the response by DAS, he looking for more numbers. He is researching the job descriptions for ODOT TMC's and the surrounding states and counties.
He looking to visit with fellow TMCs statewide.

This is our goal. To be completely informed about our issues. To know more than anyone at the bargaining table. To answer those questions about Who, What & Why. We have time to calmly collect our information for a year or more. We have time to present our issues at the Labor/Management forum. We have time to create success.

The Local looks forward to working with you. mac

Cameron M McGinnis
TMS2 Meacham
ODOT Local 730, President