ODOT Campaign

June 17, 2025

Impacts of ODOT along 1-84 as described in testimony from Roger Birkeland, ODOT Transportation Maintenance Specialist.

In the regional services district, there are 21 maintenance facilities. The crews maintain over 4,100 lane miles and 572 bridges.  From I-84, Central Oregon draws a high volume of travelers for recreational activities, including US 97, which is a critical freight passage in the state. The Region's dispatch center is responsible for incident response and crew safety for the entire eastern two thirds of the state. The Diverse geography and climate results in significant environmental impacts on the system

At the time of this writing, there was an active fire along I-84 near Hood River. Evacuations and road closures were issued for three wildfires that broke out on both the Oregon and Washington sides of the Columbia River Gorge on June 12, 2025. Level 3 and Level 2 evacuations are in place for parts of The Dalles, and Interstate 84 is closed from Hood River to The Dalles, while other fire activity has closed SR-14 east near Carson.

While you may think of ODOT as a winter operations agency, the workers also respond to wildfires to assist emergency crews. As a matter of fact, you can look into the Fire and Ice program between ODOT and Forestry. Public employees split their time between the two agencies: plowing snow in the winter, and firefighting in the summer. This is an area that Legislators should shore up to retain talent and save costs on recruitment. You have the crews, put them to work.

On June 12, Roger from Hood River hoped to tune in virtually for the Transportation Reinvestment Committee hearing but was unable due to the recent wildfires.

Here is what Roger, a Transportation Maintenance Specialist, would have liked to say:

My name is Roger Birkeland and I am an ODOT Transportation Maintenance Specialist out of Arlington. My crew services I-84 and Highway 19, which is one of the main roads that connects the freeway to rural areas like Condon and Fossil, allowing them access to the supply chain to receive important things like groceries and medicine.  This is a high demand area during the winter months with over 90 snowplows dedicated to road maintenance and safety.

These roadways experience heavy winter weather conditions, and maintaining these roads is critical to the well-being of our communities as well as commerce. We often are first responders to accidents and incidents, receiving calls at all hours of the day or night, whether it's a wreck, a flat tire, or roadway debris. As I wrote this testimony, I was preparing to go to bed and to wake up at 3 am to relieve a crew dealing with a fire all night - a fire outside of my normal service area, but with our current staffing levels, they're pulling from all over just to respond to events like this in the Columbia Gorge.

Shutting down our shop or any of these rural shops would be detrimental to any commerce traveling on state or interstate highways, as well as rural people who need safe roads and access to the necessities to maintain a healthy, normal life.

Every ODOT crew member in our shop treats the roadways as if our own families were using those roads, which they often do. We work tirelessly to address every kind of hazard, from fire and ice to potholes and stalled motorists as quickly as possible, to keep the public traveling worry free. Without sufficient funding, we will be unable to keep up this service. We need elected officials, like yourselves, to be bold and take action.

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6/12 - State Budget Talks Heat Up – All Eyes on ODOT 

Oregon’s legislative session must end by the end of the month, and lawmakers have to pass a budget before then. With less revenue for the budget due to the impacts of federal policies on Oregon’s economy, competition is fierce. SEIU 503 members have been at the Capitol fighting for the funding we need for our agencies and our next contracts.  

In case you missed it, the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) is facing a massive budget shortfall and, unless additional funding is generated, SEIU members who keep our roads clean and safe are facing layoffs. We can’t let this happen to our union siblings and Oregon’s transportation infrastructure. Contact your lawmakers today and tell them to pass the transportation package, HB 2025! 

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1/23/25 What ODOT Provides Oregonians - A Christmas Story

On Christmas day, Hermiston ODOT workers reminded us why they, and all ODOT workers, are such an important part of Oregon. A multi-car crash injured 9 people in Umatilla County and ODOT workers, including union steward Kyle Martin, were on the scene to assist the injured road users and to clear the road. This included having to bring an overturned semi-truck back to an upright position and comforting a hurt child. Many people in the public don’t understand that ODOT workers often respond to dangerous and even deadly scenes on our roads, just like first responders, and they deserve recognition for that work and the resources to be able to continue doing it.

Above are a few pictures showing the kind of incidents that these workers respond to. As the legislature begins meeting and deciding the budget for State government and agencies like ODOT we want to make sure it is clear what is on the line. ODOT keeps the roads safe and open to traffic and without them working at full capacity, all Oregonians will be impacted. Roads will take longer to clear from accidents and dangerous weather events. Traffic infrastructure will take longer to repair and maintain. Oregonians deserve better and we need lawmakers to know we want a fully funded ODOT!

Have a problem at work? Try an LMC meeting!

LMC stands for Labor-Management Committee. It’s a meeting required by our contract that allows workers to demand to sit down with management to discuss issues. If there is something going on that isn’t exactly a grievance, or you’d like to try to discuss it before filing a grievance, an LMC allows us to try to reach a compromise. Our union has been working hard on revitalizing the LMC process at ODOT and we are encouraging more workers to get involved. A recent example of an LMC win allowed an ODOT shop to challenge an unfair on-call policy. After bringing the matter to LMC, they were able to get their issue resolved and make sure they are being scheduled and paid according to the contract. Managers agreed that workers would no longer be treated as if they are on call without the proper compensation and consideration.

Information about upcoming LMCs can be found in your ODOT sharepoint intranet. Schedules and notes from meetings will be stored there, as well as a document about how to run an LMC and make it as effective as possible. Reach out to your field organizer or Toby Green (greent@seiu503.org) to get involved!

12/23/24 Inclement Weather & Your Contract

As the holidays get into full swing and the new year approaches, we are already starting to experience winter weather across the state. Earlier this week about 16,632 customers lost power on the Oregon Coast due to high winds! More winter weather is predicted to be on the way and that means there could be closures at State offices and worksites, as well as conditions that make it impossible to get to work. It is for times like these that we bargained for inclement weather leave and a fair process for dealing with hazardous conditions. Below is some of the important information to keep in mind, you can see the entire contract article at this link.

Article 123 provides 40 hours of inclement weather leave per biennium for every employee. It can only be used in certain situations and does not roll over. Worksites can be closed for a full day closure or they can have a delayed opening.

1.     During a delayed opening you can use the inclement weather leave for the duration of the curtailment (the amount of time the worksite is closed/delayed from opening).
2.     During a Full Day Closure that leave can be used when:

• When no work is available,
• When no alternate work location is available, or
• the employee is approved to work from home but is unable to do so for reasons beyond their control.

If the employee declines to work from an alternate worksite, the employee will use accrued vacation hours, compensatory time off, personal leave time, or leave without pay.

Other times inclement weather / hazardous conditions leave can be used are as follows:

1.     When an employee has been evacuated from their home.
2.     If utility providers experience an outage that prevents an employee from working at their remote work site (including home). Unless an alternate worksite is offered.

If you have questions about any of these scenarios or feel like you are not getting access to this leave whe necessary, please reach out to us or a union steward. We have had to file grievances or otherwise get this leave released when management decided to drag their heels or deny it. You can find your steward at this website:

DMV

ODOT

12/17/24 Legislators tour Salem Maintenance Shop

On Friday the 6th, Senator Chris Gorsek (SE Portland), Chair of the Joint Transportation Committee, and Representative Tom Andersen (Salem) joined SEIU leaders for a site tour of Salem’s ODOT Maintenance Yard. Due to the $1.7 billion shortfall in ODOT's budget, this very compound was on the chopping block and being considered for closure with all of its workers laid off. The fact of the matter is that this would cause chaos for Oregon highway road users and everyone who relies on transportation on the I-5 corridor. This would impact ALL Oregonians. The ODOT crews led Sen. Gorsek and Rep. Andersen on a tour highlighting all their crucial work and broke down exactly what would unfold if the site closed. The tour consisted of the Western Oregon Fleet Repair Facility, the Sign Shop, the Electrical Crew and ended at the Wireless Communications Section.

Maintaining a fleet of road maintenance vehicles is not cheap, especially with price gouging by corporations and inflation. None of these heavy commercial vehicles cost less than a quarter of a million dollars, and our mechanics service the fleet frequently to use the heavy vehicles for as long as possible. Currently 38% of the fleet is past its recommended service life and this is projected to increase to 49% by July 2027. The Salem Fleet Repair Facility is what makes this possible. Our ODOT workers have the skills to laser cut their own parts with advanced technology and repair vehicles in days, rather than waiting weeks, months, and sometimes almost a year to order parts from the manufacturer. Rep. Andersen was impressed to hear ODOT-SEIU treasurer Marc Boswell talk about a sweeper that broke down on Thursday which would be repaired and back to work by Monday.

The next stop was the Sign Shop, where 7 to 9 thousand signs are produced every year, as well as 140 vehicles striped and signed. The crew offers 24/7 support in case of emergencies like when graffiti makes vital road signs illegible. The State having this in-house sign shop is a way to cut costs and provide fast service, with a turnaround time of 48 hours or less for urgent equipment. The tour continued as workers highlighted the work done by electricians and the wireless communications departments. Both of these services are crucial to keeping Oregon online, whether that be in repairing downed traffic signals in urban areas or providing communications services to emergency services like Oregon State Police. The State of Oregon is able to save money and reduce our carbon footprint by maintaining our own telecommunications network without the need of a contracted 3rd-party vendor. Both legislators were clearly moved by what they learned and we hope it will make a difference when they vote on the budget in this coming session.

Hear more from workers at the Salem Maintenance Shop in this recently uploaded video on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.

10/28/24 Lay Offs and Your Rights

With the news of a looming budget crisis at ODOT, a lot of you are probably wondering "what happens if I get laid off?" While we as a union are doing everything we can along with members and leaders to avoid layoffs, we also know how important it is to understand the process and to be able to assert your rights. Article 70 of your union contract defines a layoff as "a separation from the service for involuntary reasons other than resignation, not reflecting discredit on an employee. An employee shall be given written notice of layoff at least fifteen (15) calendar days before the effective date, stating the reasons for the layoff."

One thing to keep in mind when it comes to layoffs is that seniority counts! This is one of the ways that seniority is clearly honored in our contract. Layoffs will be made in reverse seniority order, so the newest employees in a job classification and location will be the first to go. Seniority also comes into play because anyone who is laid off might have the option to bump somebody with lower seniority in the same area. If you have questions or want to talk through your options, please contact the union at 1-844-503-SEIU (7348). You can see a brief FAQ here.