Page 2
AUGUST, 1968
OREGON STATE EMPLOYEE NEWS
OSEA Says Hwy. Maintenance Men Need Raises
(Editor's Note: The Civil
Service Commission, on July
10, held a public hearing on
the classifications recommend
ed fo r pay raises from the ad
ditional mid-biennium adjust
ment money released by the
Emergency B o a r d . A pproxi
mately 3,150 employees, in
some 256 classifications, w ill
get pay raises on August 1.
Because of the interest ex
pressed by many members,
OSEA's statement to the com
mission is printed below.)
“ As requested by your staff
in May, the Board of Directors
of the Oregon State Employees
Association recommended the
mid-biennium salary adjust
ment fund be spent to give
four groups of employees pay
raises on July 1st.
Those four groups were: (1)
All classifications being paid
less than the new federal mini
mum wage of $280 per month,
(2) Institution Teachers, (3)
Nurses, and (4) Highway Main-
tenance Man and related class
es.
HMM's Given Nothing
Three of these groups, among
others, were given salary in
creases. The Highway Main
tenance Man series and some
related classifications were
given nothing.
In indicating that more money
might be made available for
additional salary adjustments,
the Emergency Board, at its
June 14 meeting, directed the
Civil Service Commission to
supplement its original mid-
biennium pay recommenda
tions.
Maintennace Pay Behind
In developing this supplemen
tal salary adjustment proposal,
your staff has not adhered to
the strict criteria of “ recruit
ment and retention’’ of person
nel as they did in developing
the original recommendation.
It is apparent in reviewing
the proposal before you today
that salary data and classifica-
tion relationships have been
given as much weight by your
staff, in the cases .where they
have recommended adjust
ments, as the state’s ability
to recruit and retain employ
ees.
The highway maintenance
classes meet the previously
established criteria, and, in
addition, are seriously behind
maintenance men in other Ore
gon governmental employment.
One-Step Hike Asked
The proposal before you to
day will take nearly all of the
additional general funds that
may be released by the Emer
gency Board. OSEA would like
to point out, for that reason,
that what we propose will take
only dedicated funds to imple
ment.
OSEA recommends that one-
step salary adjustments be
given to Highway Maintenance
Man series and related classi
fications. We do this for some
specific and justifiable reasons.
Present Pay Lags
U 0 Electricians No
Longer W ant Union
A majority of the employees
in a small collective bargaining
unit at the University of Oregon
no longer w ish to be represented
by an AFL-CIO union.
Six of the ten employees in
the
“ U n iv ersity
of
O regon
And Not H e a lth y
Exercise, Either
OSEA and state agencies
aré in the process of draw
ing up salary recommenda
tions for the Civil Service
Commission’s 1969 compen
sation plan.
Everett B. Stiles, OSEA’s
wage and salary analyst,
asked the agencies to send
copies of their recommenda
tions to the association.
Stiles received a letter
from one agency outlining its
recommended salaries. On
the bottom of the letter this
comment was added:
“ If the one and one-half
limitation passes, this will
be just an exercise in memo
writing.’’
Electrical Shop’’ unit have
signed a petition asking the Civil
Service Commission to de
certify Local 280, International
Brotherhood
of Electrical
Workers, as their exclusive
b arg a in in g r e p re s e n ta tiv e .
The IBEW was elected bar
gaining representative in June,
1966. OSEA did not contest the
election.
The Civil Service Commis
sion will conduct a decertifica
tion election in the latter part
of August. The exact date could
not be learned before this issue
of the NEWS went to press.
All employees in the unitwill
be informed of the electiondate
and procedures by the com
mission.
This is the first request for
a decertication election since
collective bargaining began in
state government two and one-
half years ago.
Civil Service rules provide
that a decertification election
may be authorized after: (1)
the certified representative has
served one year, and (2) at
least 30 per cent of the employ
ees in the unit request the rep
resentative be decertified.
The Maintenance Division of
the Highway Department is in
the throes of a’ reorganization
process. For that reason, and
that reason only, it is not pre
sently recruiting maintenance
personnel.
When this reorganization is
over and the Highway Depart
ment this fall needs additional
maintenance employees, it will
not be able to recruit them at
the presentsalary level. There
fore, the ‘ recruiting argument’
should not be used in denying
salary adjustments for these
c la s s e s .
Salaries for this group of em
ployees are usually compared
with county road departments
across the state and mainten
ance salaries in our neighbor
ing states. Present pay for these
classes lag those in at least
seven Oregon counties. Current
city and county salary sched
ules, compiled by OSEA, are
attached to this statement.
Some Comparisons
For instance, Multnomah
County pays its Heavy Equip
ment Operators, which are
equivalent to the state’s High
way Maintenance Men 3*s, in a
range-of $628-$688. The state
pays $460-$550.
Coos County pays its Light
Truck Drivers $540 a month.
The state pays a maximum of
$525 for this Highway Main
tenance Man 2 job. W’e should
also point out that this salary
lag will soon become even
An ideal spot in
Salem for your
group meeting or
conference.
— -always at reasonable rales
greater as Coos County is
presently adopting new sala
ries. OSEA was told yesterday
that the new rate will be at
least $565, making this South
ern Oregon county $40 ahead
of the state.
Columbia County pays its
equivalent Highway Mainten
ance Men l ’s in a range of
$465-$505. The state
pays
$400-$480.
State Pay Absurd
Highway maintenance em
ployees in Jackson County,
with the exception of the 1
level, are paid more than the
state’s highway personnel, and
the county has not yet adopted
its 1968 pay plan.
Our neighboring states of
Washington and California both
exceed Oregon in salaries paid
to highway maintenance em
ployees. This data, collected
by your staff and published last
December in your annual salary
survey, is on file.
We want to point out that
we are not comparing state
highway personnel to those em
ployed by private contractors.
If we were to do this, the
state’s range of $440-$525
would compare with the con
tractor’s salary scale
of
$841.50 a month. Citing pay
scales paid by private con
tractors only makes state pay
look absurd.*
Would Im pair Morals
Your ;staff has recommends
ed one-step adjustments for the
Equipment Operator series and
the Highway Maintenance Man4
classifications. To increase
th ese
s a l a r i e s w ith o u t a d ju s t
ing the pay of the remaining
maintenance personnel will
seriously impair the working
relationship and morale in the
State Highway Department.
Pay Raise Justified
The proposal before you to
day recommends one-step pay
raises for other large groups
of employees within the High
way Department, such as engin
eers, weighmasters, right-of-
-fa
24-H our Restaurant
-fo
745 Commercial Street S.E., Salem
Telephone: 363-2451
Board Approves
Chapter Charter
A charter for a new OSEA
academic chapter at Eastern
Oregon College in La Grande
w a s a p p r o v e d -b y th e B o a rd o f
D ir e c to rs m eeting in Salem July
27.
Dr. George Arscott, director
of the Academic, and Unclassir-
fied Services Committee, pre
sented the board w ith a petition
bearing the signatures of 20
members of the EOC faculty
rerequesting the chapter.
It will be known as the
“ EOC Faculty Chapter. Its
number has not yet been se
lected.
IQCAL IOAN
the Company that likes to say “ YES”
Check the chart below for the amount you want
to borrow and the payment plan best suited to
your budget. Then, call or visit the Local Loan
Manager nearest you and let him make all the
arrangements.
MONTHLY PAYMENTS
AMOUNT
OF LOAN
$
100
200
300
500
1,000
1,500
3
6
Monthly
Monthly
Payments
Payments
$ 35.35
70.71
106.06
—
—
—
$18.46
36.92
55.38
91.66
—
-
15
Monthly
Payments
20
Monthly
Payments
24
Monthly
Payments
$ 8.38
16.75
25.13
41.28
78.91
—
$ 6.72
13.44
20.16
32.97
€ 2 .21
90.37
$ 5.90
11.81
17.71
28.86
53.89
77.87
Pay Only for the Time You Keep the Money
NO FINES — NO LATE CHARGES
IQCAL IOAN
342 Capitol S t, NE
Phone 364-8491
Paul Staight, Mgr.
Pool
OSEA Urges Increase
Your staff has not improved
the bleak salary picture of the
highway maintenance employ
ees by arbitrarily recommend
ing adjustments to only the 37
employees at the four level. On
the contrary, it will create a
tremendous problem in terms
of salary relationships and
morale.
Should a Highway Mainten
ance Man 4 make the same
salary as an Assistant Fore
man?
In conclusion, OSEA recom
mends that the Civil Service
Commission adopt one-step in
creases for all highway main
tenance personnel. This would
cost approximately $450,000
and would come entirely from
dedicated funds.
The increases are certainly
justified, the money appears to
be available, and we urge you
to adopt them.
borrow the money you want from
SALEM
Lounge
way agents and landscape per
sonnel. Current salary data,
including that collected by your
staff, shows that the highway
maintenance
classifications
are just as far behind.
The Highway Maintenance
Man 3 is as justified in receiv
ing an adjustment as the High
way Engineer 3, according to all
available salary data.
PORTLAND
208 Morgan Bldg.
Phone 227-3211
Dick Van Dyke, Mgr.
Four other offices are conveniently located in the Portland area. Also,
offices in Eugene, Klamath Falls, Medford and Roseburg.