STATE HIGHWAY EMPLOYEES ASSOCIATION MEETING

AUG. 13, 2002

In attendance: Kevin Keith, Dave DeWitt, Jay Wunderlich, Wayne Hinkle, Mark O’Dowd, Pam Droog (secy.)

Dave DeWitt asked Mark O’Dowd how employees were responding to the new uniforms: blue shirt with MoDOT and name patches. Mark said the response was good because employees can purchase the shirts with the $15 uniform allowance MoDOT provides, plus have $2-$3 left over toward jeans. This has boosted participation in the program.

Mark added, employees are more satisfied and Aramark, the vendor, is working better with employees now.

Jay said each year the department has its legislative package and the association has its package. He offered to meet with the association to explain departmental policies and work together in order to present a united front regarding legislation in the next session. He said sometimes the department’s agenda is not as specific as the association’s, and sometimes there is “legislative intention” or certain considerations the association may not be aware of, for example, the department’s policies on outsourcing for mowing.

Jay also said, regarding Proposition B, “we couldn’t find any association support until the last two weeks of the campaign.” He said, if we had worked in a more unified manner maybe we could have made an impact regarding the outcome. “Small things like this have an effect in the Legislature,” he said. “It helps if we all work together instead of seeming to be fragmented.”

Jay said he understands the issues the association is interested in have to do with employees. He said he recently talked to the Senate Appropriations Committee chairman who said another $400 million may be cut from the 2004 budget which would have a large impact on employee issues statewide.

Kevin said MoDOT’s priority will be salary increases. “We will push as hard as we can on this. It’s way past due. It’s time. Let’s focus on this until we know it won’t happen. Let’s all put some eggs in that basket.”

Dave said we need to recommend to the Governor’s office that we receive full funding for raises. Henry Hungerbeeler already urged this in his testimony before the Governor’s budget staff. He said regarding the legislation the association proposed last year -- allowing flexibility to convert sick leave to annual leave that might otherwise be lost if someone has not accumulated 168 hours of sick leave – Henry is open to talking about this, depending on the costs.

Kevin said the latest date we can have the package approved is Oct. 4. Dave said, in the meantime we can look at things on the association’s agenda from last year.

Kevin said “I’d rather say, if there are a couple of items we can all agree on from a legislative standpoint, let’s put them on both of our agendas.” These would include a salary increase. Mark added, conversion of unused sick leave. Kevin said, “Whatever it is just tell me but we do have one of the best retirement systems in state government. We have other issues to deal with now. That’s my personal opinion but I think others would agree with me.”

Mark said we had 10 bills on our agenda last year. I’m not sure what we want to put out there this year. Our committee will meet on this Sept. 7. Dave said you still have to have the membership approve the agenda afterwards. Mark said that will take place at our Oct. 14 membership meeting.

Jay said is outsourcing for mowing still an issue? Mark said yes. A lot of people feel this could cause them to lose their jobs even thought they’ve been told a hundred times they won’t.

Kevin said how do we fight that? We need a combination of what we can realistically do, and hiring quality outsourcing. We’ve done it that way a long time. Same with guardrails. This works better and I’m comfortable with it. We’ll just keep saying no one is losing his or her job.

Mark said all of our trucks are outsourced for repairs because we don’t have mechanics.

Jay said what about the issue of maintenance sheds? You understand the commission has undertaken a study about consolidating the sheds over the next year. Could you go along with a moratorium regarding sheds this year? This really gets the Legislature fired up.

Kevin said I still think we have too many maintenance buildings, many dating from the 1930s. They’re not all in the right place anymore. But a lot of employees believe if we close a building they’ll lose their job. We’ll finish our study and present it in January. I do believe we have 50 or 60 too many buildings around the state.

Mark said he’s heard employees say I’ll lose my job if the shed closes, or I’ll have to drive 30 or 40 minutes to work and without a raise it’s tough to pay for gas.

Kevin said even those who would end up driving less don’t like it simply because it’s a change. But four people in a building is not a model I want to keep. We need at least six in a building to get things done.

Jay said with all the new legislators arriving, we have new “opportunities” so we need to be unified. Kevin said let’s support each other’s initiatives. Wayne invited Kevin to attend the Oct. 14 meeting. Kevin said, “I’d love to come but I’m fishing in Alaska!”

Dave said have there been any reactions to healthcare costs remaining the same? Mark said that was just announced so it’s too soon to know. Wayne said actually the new HMO will be the big topic. Dave said the new HMO combines the best of the old and current plans and includes the “ten-dollar baby,” meaning the co-pay is just $10 even when you go to the hospital to have a baby.

Wayne said Henry was well received at a recent employees association meeting. He talked about Proposition B and the healthcare issue. Mark said the last two times he’s attended he’s had a much better experience than previously. Mark said he’s talked to Henry several times since May and “things are getting better.” Dave said Henry said he’d allow employees to charge their time to regular time while he was there. Normally people take vacation time for a meeting but Henry said the time he was on the agenda, members should go to regular time. Wayne said this will confuse people. Mark said Henry also talked about legislative issues and “came in with a ‘tude from Tuesday” (Proposition B defeat). Dave said, the people have spoken!

Mark said don’t toll roads have to go through the legislature? Kevin said under limited circumstances we can work with other groups—like what happened in the Lake of the Ozarks—that belongs to a private group of individuals. It’s their money, they paid for it, designed and built it. The agreement is when it’s paid off we’ll take it over and the tolls will stop. But if we want any size or magnitude of a toll road it has to go through the legislature and there has to be a constitutional change. If you want to build a toll road yourself with all your own money, you could.

Kevin asked, did Henry share with the association what’s our direction now that Proposition B didn’t pass? Our number one priority now is to take care of what we have. Number two, to finish what we started. But we have to finish projects in the STIP first before we switch money to maintenance in 2005-6. That’s pretty much what we told people throughout the campaign. It means a lot of big corridor projects we’ll have to stop work on. It helps if our employees know we have enough money to do maintenance work very well, with a little money left to do certain pieces of the corridors. We’ll take care of our system first.

Dave said everything in the STIP is a done deal. Kevin said yes, we’re not breaking those commitments. “Let me plea, the whole point is communication. It has to be better.” Mark said he’s planning to send out a monthly newsletter to the membership.

Dave said please prioritize your legislative agenda, then we can discuss our support. Mark said I don’t think we need to put 10 bills on it but it depends on the rest of the committee. Dave said, yes of course you have to listen to your membership but you can lead them, which can be very difficult. Even with a list of 10 items maybe we can get the top three accomplished.

Meeting adjourned.