PORTLAND – Some highway workers are upset about a state Department of Transportation plan to save $10 million a year by revamping plowing and maintenance operations.

Carl Leinonen, executive director of the Maine State Employees Association, said transportation officials made a mistake by not negotiating the changes called for in state transportation Commissioner David A. Cole’s plan before they started to try to put them in place.

“There are some things there they can do on their own unilaterally,” he said. “There are some things they have to negotiate with us first.”

The MSEA sent Cole a “cease and desist” notice asking him to delay personnel moves until they are discussed with the union.

Cole is spearheading an effort to save Maine’s Department of Transportation $10 million a year and cut his work force more than 6 percent. He called the move the agency’s biggest reorganization in 50 years. It is part of Gov. John Baldacci’s mandate to increase government efficiency.

“We’re in an era when we’re not expecting a lot more dollars for roads and bridges,” Cole said. “We have a responsibility to taxpayers to be as efficient as we can.”