Post Special Session Message
AEE Bargaining Unit Members:
Now that HB3991 has passed the Senate, some relief from the stress and anxiety has been lifted. It was the good news we were all waiting for today. With that, AEE continues to work hard for our members. Since the layoffs were first announced, the AEE Board has been very busy with the following:
· Attended meetings with the ODOT Director, HR Director, ODOT Deputy Director, representatives from the Governor’s office, and several managers at the Labor Relations Unit (LRU) of DAS CHRO, and had requested even more, trying to get information to membership, point out and work through errors, and work to find alternatives.
· We have filed a group grievance over the layoff process and how it was handled by ODOT, with the Step 3 meeting with DAS that happened on September 15th. The grievance addresses, not only the poor handling of the layoff process, but also the violation of members’ rights and our collective bargaining agreement.
· We have supported members through the engineering reclass allocations and appeals process. We have tracked all of the allocations and assisted and filed allocation appeals for over 120 members of the bargaining unit.
· Continued bargaining for the 2025-2027 Contract Bargaining Agreement. Mediation for the 2025-2027 Contract has been set for November 10th.
· Began strengthening our partnership with our SEIU counterparts, including participating in a joint rally at the opening of Special Legislative Session on August 29th and ended with a joint rally on September 29th.
The last several months have been trying, to say the very least. They have been filled with stress, and uncertainty, and tough conversations with family. Sleepless nights. Tears. People were looking at losing their jobs or having to consider transferring through bumping their coworkers out of a position and into their own unknown. Due to the rush to process, ODOT HR made questionable decisions that were driven by the schedule more than by making sure things were done right. Mistakes were made, and they had to double down, because July 31st was coming and they had to make sure people were walking out the front doors across the state.
Emails and meetings by management were circulating about a secret secondary “position elimination list” where people would lose their positions but “still have a job” after management moved them around to fill the “gaps” in service created by their arbitrary layoff process. This was being called things like “position management”, and “reallocation of staff”, or a favorite “reconciling remaining employees on remaining positions”.
AEE was consistently hearing things from the T-Building about how ODOT wanted to work together with AEE. We consistently sought to collaborate and address issues -- for example, after concerning communication went out that did not comport with the CBA, ODOT’s RIF FAQs were riddled with errors, or we saw violations of the CBA were occurring. Time and again we were assured that “looking forward” things would be different, and ODOT Leadership assured us that they were dedicated to communication and coordination to minimize issues in the future. Those assurances proved to be hollow. They met with us (eventually) but the meetings were futile. It became obvious that decisions had been made by ODOT, and ODOT demonstrated no interest in turning back or even pivoting.
ODOT got a “reprieve” from July 31 st to October 15th. We hoped that, with the extension, ODOT would reconsider errant decisions and right some wrongs. No such luck. Just as before, Leadership doubled down and moved forward, and just like they announced to all ODOT staff that HB2025 was practically guarantee, we heard the same about Special Session. Like Leadership had no contingency plan for HB2025 failing, they had no plan for Special Session failing beyond moving forward with the layoffs. At every turn they have doubled and tripled down on violations of the CBA, the so-called need for “position management”, and the layoff notification and bumping process that has been at times disorganized and even unnecessarily cruel.
We are not saying that there is an expectation of perfection from AEE, ODOT staff, managers and supervisors, or ODOT Leadership. What this process has shown us is that we ODOT Staff are on our own. The appreciation for our work repeatedly stressed by ODOT leadership in the Agency-wide Town Hall meetings has translated to nothing appreciable to the average ODOT worker on one of their lists. This process has exposed the rift between ODOT staff and Leadership that has been the elephant in the room since the first “Employee Engagement Survey”.
This email is being sent as a reminder that despite this truth, AEE remains here for you. As a 100% voluntary board – w e * a r e* y o u. Whether this Special Session passed or failed – we would get a band-aid or bleed. We will be back at this problem at the Legislative level the next session, the one after that, and the one after that – until leadership across the state stop using us and the public as pawns and establish sustainable budget sources into the future to fund transportation in the state we love.
We need support now more than ever – if you are not an active member –please consider becoming one. If you aren’t sure if you are an active member– simply check to see if dues are being taken from your paycheck or email the office at Office@aeeo.org. If you are a member please consider getting
involved – we have open Director positions at HQ and Region 4, and several openings for Assistant Directors. We could use help with organizing and committees.
The Association of Engineering Employees of Oregon is a 100% volunteer board with one employee, and is something you build with your coworkers, we play countless roles in our work life. Please join us in our efforts to make us all stronger.
In Unity,
Your AEE Board.