With a mixture of longtime members plus those interested in what OPEA has to offer, more than 30 state employees with the Oklahoma Department of Transportation in Duncan gathered July 31 to hear the latest news from their Association.
“It was a pleasure to meet such devoted members of OPEA,” said staff member Bud Elder, who initiated the meeting. “Some have been with us since the beginning and understand just how much this association has accomplished for them.”
Elder said turnover is a very real problem at the facility.
“We know that ODOT workers do some of the most dangerous work in the state,” Elder said. “With such low starting pay, many beginning employees are leaving to go to work in the oilfields, thus leaving longtime workers either with rookies to watch their backs, or, worse case, no help at all.”
Elder said the proposed alternative work week has support at this facility.
“I met several people who travel as far as 70 miles per day to come to work,” he said. “They told me that they will continue to travel so that their families can have state benefits and, once the cost of travel outweighs insurance, they will have to seek work elsewhere.”
Elder did, however, find strong support for OPEAPAC House District 50 candidate Daisy Lawler.
“I found people here who were in Ms. Lawler’s Sunday School Class,” he said. “To the person all there offered strong support for her candidacy.
Elder said a meeting with Ms. Lawler and state employees in the area will be scheduled soon.
Before the meeting ended, the group played “Spin to Win” and OPEA gained four new members:
Marla Cowan
Rebecca Hennessee
Chenoa Avens
Boyd Gaines
