Oklahoma transportation workers may see increase in paycheck
Agencies: Department move expected to cost roughly $7.8 million a year
Oklahoma transportation workers may see increase in paycheck

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By John Greiner

Published: August 27, 2008

More than 2,000 state Transportation Department employees received a salary increases averaging 7 percent on Aug. 1 based on market studies of pay for comparable private sector jobs, Transportation Director Gary Ridley said Tuesday.

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The raises affect 2,072 of the agency's 2,381 employees, he said. That equates to about 87 percent of them.

On Dec. 1, 900 employees whose salaries were at least 17 percent or more lower than comparable private sector jobs will get an additional pay increase, he said.

An Office of Personnel Management study said state agency salaries are about 12 percent below the private sector, said Terri Angier, Transportation Department spokeswoman.

But some transportation salaries are close to 20 percent below market, she said.

Turnover linked to pay

The pay increase will cost about $7.8 million a year.

The impact is lessened by money saved because of 125 to 150 vacancies created by employee turnover, Ridley said.

The turnover rate has been 2 percent so far this year, but some positions, such as heavy equipment operators, had 60 percent turnover, he said.

And the rate has been 20 to 25 percent in the 160-employee division headquartered in Buffalo and the 200-employee division headquartered in Clinton, Ridley said.

"A turnover of 40 to 50 people a year is just killing us to be able to do our job at a competent level,” Ridley said. "We had to do something to attract and retain.”

The agency began salary reviews in 2001, granting raises that year and again in late 2005, Ridley said.

Pay reviews are planned every two years, Angier said.

Source of the funds

This past session, the Legislature did not grant pay raises to state employees or teachers because a smaller amount of state revenue was available.

But Angier said the law also permits the agency to make salary adjustments based on market studies.

In recent years, legislators have increased funding by millions of dollars for agency operations, including maintenance and construction.

"You can spend money on employees or money to build bridges. The truth is you have to have a balance. You have to have a skilled labor force to design, build and maintain highways,” Ridley said.

The agency has to have a competent work force, he said.

"Our job is a 24/7 operation. When we're telling other people to go home because of inclement weather, that's when our people go out. The lives of people who use our facilities depend on it,” Ridley said.