The Democratic nominee says 43 years in railroad operations, union service and management prepared him to protect workers, support employers and lead a state regulatory agency.
OKLAHOMA CITY — Kevin Dawson spent 43 years in the railroad industry, where he said workers had to do the job right the first time “or you didn’t go home.”
Now the Democratic nominee for labor commissioner is asking voters to see that career — spanning work as a locomotive engineer and union representative followed by management, training and public safety — as preparation for leading the Oklahoma Department of Labor.
“No person should be required to go to work and lose a drop of blood in order to earn a paycheck,” Dawson said.
In an interview with OK Politics Today, Dawson discussed his background, priorities for the department and decision to enter politics after retiring four years ago.
Dawson will face Republican nominee Rep. Kevin West, R-Moore, and Libertarian nominee Mike Hall in the Nov. 3 general election.
Dawson declined to criticize West, calling him “a nice guy” and saying the two discuss many of the same issues. Dawson said the distinction he draws is his experience leading employees and working with multiple levels of government.
What the labor commissioner does
The labor commissioner is elected to a four-year term and serves as head of the Oklahoma Department of Labor.
The department handles wage claims and workplace-safety programs. It also regulates elevators, escalators, boilers, amusement rides, alternative-fuel systems and asbestos-abatement work and administers 51 occupational licenses.
The agency provides free, confidential safety consultations to private employers and administers Oklahoma’s occupational-safety program for public employees. The department’s website provides an overview of its responsibilities.
From the locomotive cab to management
Dawson said he went to work for the Missouri Pacific Railroad after high school, beginning as a locomotive fireman. He was promoted to locomotive engineer in 1980 at age 19.
He described himself as one of the youngest engineers promoted in the country.
Dawson said he spent 10 years as a local union chairman and steward before moving into management in the 1990s.
“I’m a 46-year union member, so I’m not going to run away from that,” Dawson said. “It is my legacy.”
His management work included supervising and training engineers and conductors. He later became a public safety manager responsible for a region including Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa and Missouri.
Dawson said the job required him to work with federal, state, county and municipal officials on railroad safety in and around Chicago, Minneapolis-St. Paul and St. Louis.
He sees that combination of labor, management, regulation and public safety as the central qualification he brings to the race.
“I’ve been tested in the crucible of leadership,” Dawson said. “I’ve done this for 43 years in the railroad industry, working with the federal government, state government, county government and municipal government.”
Dawson retired from the railroad in 2022. He said he had been enjoying retirement when people familiar with his safety and management background encouraged him to run.
“The more I investigated it, the more I thought this is lining up perfectly with what my ambitions and desires are for the rest of my life,” he said.
Returning to college later in life
Dawson was born in Wichita, Kansas, and finished high school in El Dorado, Kansas. His railroad career later brought him to Oklahoma, where he now lives in Norman.
He said he was not an engaged student in high school. After entering management and completing numerous workplace training programs, he decided to return to college so the work could lead to a degree rather than another certificate.
Dawson earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in administrative leadership from the University of Oklahoma while working and raising three children with his wife, Joann.
“I loved going back later in life for college,” he said. “I got along so well with the professors. I fell in love with it. I’m now a lifelong learner.”
Dawson said he intends to return to college to study history after the campaign, regardless of the election’s outcome.
Safety, accountability and fairness
Dawson organizes his campaign around safety, accountability and fairness for workers and employers.
Safety comes first, he said, because his railroad career taught him that rules can carry life-or-death consequences.
The Department of Labor’s safety programs include confidential consultations for private employers, enforcement of occupational-safety requirements for public employees and inspections or licensing involving equipment and professions that can affect public safety.
Dawson said accountability includes ensuring that employees receive the compensation they have earned.
“No person should lose a penny to a company who is cutting corners or trying to cheat them out of money,” he said.
He said fairness also requires protecting employers that follow the law from competitors that gain an advantage by ignoring safety or wage requirements.
“No company should be required to compete with another company who cheats or cuts corners,” Dawson said.
Dawson said the office should be centered on the statutory direction to promote the welfare of wage earners, improve working conditions and advance opportunities for profitable employment.
But he said that focus does not require treating employers as adversaries. Responsible companies also benefit from clearly explained rules, consistent enforcement and help identifying workplace hazards before someone is injured, he said.
An argument for agency visibility
Dawson said the department’s relatively low public profile limits its usefulness.
He wants agency leaders and employees to spend more time explaining what services are available, where workers can turn with wage complaints and how employers can obtain safety assistance.
“Transparency is there,” Dawson said. “But if we make ourselves more visible, where people know to call the Department of Labor if they’re having wage theft that’s taking place, then we can go out and we can go after it.”
The department’s Wage and Hour Unit investigates complaints involving unpaid wages, missing final paychecks, illegal deductions, minimum-wage violations and unpaid overtime.
Dawson said he would begin by learning from department employees responsible for the daily work.
“I want to be their representative,” he said. “I want to be their leader in doing what they’re doing, and that starts with getting to know each one of those people and the duties and responsibilities that they have.”
A Democrat seeking statewide office
This is Dawson’s first campaign for public office.
He acknowledged that winning statewide as a Democrat requires support from independents and Republicans as well as Democratic voters. Dawson said his approach has been to attend fairs and community events, meet voters face to face and visit Republican booths as well as Democratic ones.
He said the same approach would be necessary if he were elected and needed to work with a Republican-controlled Legislature.
“I have to be able to work with all of those folks,” Dawson said. “That means that I have to have the reputation of somebody who’s willing to have those conversations with them without insulting anybody.”
His argument to voters is that the department needs a commissioner experienced in regulated workplaces, leadership and the practical consequences of safety decisions.
“The duties and responsibilities of the commissioner of labor, to me, are kind of the foundation of why I wanted to run for the job,” Dawson said. “It talks about the wage earner. It talks about the worker. That’s the focus that I think we need to get back to.”
