Skip to main content

DOT director is operator for a day: 'I can see your people work hard'

Date Posted: October 1 2004

HOWELL – Michigan Department of Transportation (DOT) Director Gloria Jeff is accustomed to operating a state division with hundreds of employees, but on Sept. 10, she became an operating engineer for a day.

Jeff accepted an invitation to visit the sprawling Operating Engineers Local 324 Training Center, run some of the heavy equipment, and learn what the union is doing to prepare workers to help build and repair Michigan’s transportation infrastructure. Michigan spends about $1.3 billion every year on transportation spending – and much of that money employs unionized operating engineers and other construction workers.

“We invited Ms. Jeff because we wanted to give her a sense of what operating engineers do on the job,” said Local 324 Business Manager John Hamilton. “Like everybody else, she drives through highway construction sites every day, but you don’t get a full appreciation for what operating engineers do unless you’re behind the controls. And since the state spends so much money in employing our members, we wanted to show her how that investment is justified through our union’s commitment to training.”

With the help of Local 324 instructors, Jeff spent the morning at the 515-acre site operating a crane, a bulldozer, a loader and a scraper. For a rookie, Jeff was a relatively smooth operator behind the controls and declared the scraper “a little harder” to operate that the other rigs.

“It’s an excellent training facility,” Jeff told Local 324 Training Director Gregg Newsom, aboard the training site’s tour bus as it rumbled past a new road embankment being constructed at the site. “I can see that your people work hard and I have to believe you have the best workforce available.”

Newsom said Local 324 has a $4 million annual training budget. Apprentices and journeymen are trained in the use of more than 50 pieces of construction equipment. The training site features a first-of-its kind, six-story training frame that allows iron workers and operating engineers to work together in the task of steel erection.

“I hope Ms. Jeff leaves here with a better appreciation for the skill level of our people,” Newsom said. “But the most important thing I want her to know is how committed we are to safety and producing skilled operating engineers she will need for her many road projects around the state. Good training and safety is paramount to us.”


MICHIGAN DEPARTMENT of Transportation Director Gloria Jeff gets a lesson in the operation of a crane from Operating Engineers Local 324 crane instructor John Hartwell.