Operating Engineers 324 Statement on Tentative Michigan Budget Agreement

Operating Engineers 324 (OE324), representing more than 15,000 skilled trades professionals across Michigan, welcomes the tentative state budget agreement that includes a historic, long-term investment in Michigan’s roads. For too long, drivers and workers alike have paid the price for chronic underfunding of our roads and bridges. This deal represents an important step toward reversing decades of neglect.

The agreement establishes a sustainable $2 billion annual road funding plan—the largest in state history—that finally ensures every cent collected at the pump goes directly toward repairing and maintaining Michigan’s roads. Beyond the benefits to drivers, the plan safeguards thousands of good-paying Michigan construction jobs and provides stability for the workforce that builds and maintains the state’s infrastructure.

Douglas W. Stockwell, Business Manager and General Vice President of Operating Engineers 324, issued the following statement:

“This deal is more than a budget item—it’s a jobs plan. For the 15,000 members of Operating Engineers 324, this means long-term certainty that their work building and repairing roads and bridges will continue to keep Michigan running. For decades, road funding has been a patchwork of short-term fixes. This agreement finally gives us a foundation to plan, invest, and put our members to work where Michigan needs them most.

At the same time, we cannot see this as the finish line. Michigan’s infrastructure challenges go far beyond this step, and the work is far from complete. This plan is a starting point to rebuild not only our roads and bridges but also public confidence that our state is serious about long-term infrastructure investment.”

Equally important, this sustained funding supports OE324’s world-class apprenticeship and training programs, which prepare the next generation of operators and technicians. By investing in infrastructure, Michigan is also investing in the men and women who will build and maintain it for decades to come.

OE324 is committed to working with leaders at every level to build on this progress, to expand investment in infrastructure, and to ensure that Michigan workers are the ones who benefit from and deliver these critical projects.