TRANSPORTATION
EMPLOYEES ASSOCIATION OF
4th QUARTERLY
MEETING
June 3, 2006
In Attendance:
Mark
O’Dowd, State President Dave
Taylor, State Treasurer
Archie
Daily, State Vice President Karin
Cummins, State Secretary
Chapter
1 1
Member Chapter
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Chapter
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Chapter
5 0
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Chapter
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Chapter
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Meeting
called to order by President Mark O’Dowd at 9:30 a.m.
Secretary’s Report: Copies of minutes were
submitted for approval.
Treasurer’s Report: Copies of the treasurer’s
report were submitted for approval.
Guest Speaker:
Pete
Rahn, Director of Missouri Dept of Transportation was in attendance and he opened
by recognizing and thanking the association for the huge impact it’s had
on pushing the Work Zone Safety bill through.
Rahn
feels that things are turning around for MoDOT. People are appreciative and taking
notice of road improvements. He
foresees consistent improvements every year.
He
is looking for ways to recognize and reward employees who work hard to make
MoDOT a better place. Example:
Maintenance is conducting a Competition for the Best Chip Seal Program with a
$5000.00 cash award to the team that produces the best results.
Ways
to improve the condition of Missouri bridges are being looked at: 800 are
deemed “structurally dangerous” but without the revenue to correct
the problems, one solution being looked at is to place the entire package of
bridges out to bid and then MoDOT
would make monthly payments to contractor. He assured us that no jobs
would be lost, but rather the contractor would just be doing the work that we
can’t get to. They have gone
so far as to look at the legalities and feel there is interest from
contractors.
The
issue of Safety and Lost Work days was addressed. MoDOT is constantly looking at ways to
eliminate injuries. One conclusion
is that we must follow doctor’s orders more stringently. Another is giving incentives to
districts for “no loss time accidents”. Numbers have already improved after one
year. He feels it’s critical
to make employees responsible for themselves.
President,
Mark O’Dowd asked about the Construction Inspectors that are being added
temporarily to the work force and what will happen to those positions down the
road. Rahn said the jobs are safe
for the immediate future but will come into question in 2011 when our bond money
subsides.
Rahn
spoke about the 4% raise that seems eminent. He said they made the decision to treat
it as a Cost of Living Raise to avoid having more taken out for the rising cost
of insurance. He added that he felt
this was just a start and wants to see the State do more for its employees. He
believes in empowering the employee to enable them to do their job better.
He
spoke about the new job study that is just out that will focus on Maintenance
jobs and emphasized that no jobs have been eliminated as a result of job
studies. He feels we should have
job studies every 5 years.
Vice
president Archie Daily asked about job discrepancies among the pay grades. Rahn
feels that we should look at 1.) What are your responsibilities and 2.) How
well do you do them to determine an individual’s salary and not just
because you’ve been there a long time.
Rahn
feels that there has been a past hesitation on MoDOT’s part to deal with
employees that are not fulfilling their duties and wants to see that change.
President
Mark O’Dowd brought to Pete’s attention that currently seasonal
employees do not receive comp time or holiday pay. Rahn indicated he was not aware of that
and would look into the matter to see what could be done.
Rahn
concluded his visit.
Break – 10:45
Legislative Report from
Harry Hill
Harry
began by saying that he too could feel the change in attitude in
The Work Zone safety bill passed which will allow for
stiffer penalties for work zone violations.
HB 1306 – which included a
provision for Prior Service purchase was killed.
HB 1628 – the merging of
MOSERS and MPERS is dead and will probably come up again next year.
HB 1268- Conversion of unused sick
leave to smaller amounts was killed.
Old
Business:
New
Business:
Mark thanked Harry for his hard work over the past
year and feels good about what we have been able to accomplish. The association has a good relationship with
the legislature and upper management.
Mark asked for a vote to send $300.00 to Senator Rob
Mayer’s Golf Tournament to sponsor a hole as a show of appreciation for
the support Mayer gave the Work Zone Safety bill. Voted and passed.
Meeting adjourned
Next
Meeting:
August 11th - Ramada Inn -
9:00 a.m. – General Assembly