My son advised me a couple of days ago that I should share more about myself with the voters of the seventh district. Apparently, he felt that the “About Peter” page alone was inadequate for you, the voters, to know what I am really about. From the beginning, I was wishing to avoid blowing a lot of smoke about myself. Too often, I’ve seen political candidate put themselves on a pedestal, making themselves out to be some kind of hero. I’m not a hero, and there really isn’t much for me to hype up about myself. I'm just a guy who works for a living.

After graduating from St. Edmund’s High School in 1975, I attended a semester at LSU-E and a semester at USL (ULL), and then my restlessness got the best of me. While I had tried out a few different jobs first, my fascination with electricity and controls drew me into the electrical field. I loved the work. I became determined to learn as much as possible in the shortest possible time. I became employed at Standard Fittings in Opelousas, DAVCO division as an electrician. Eventually moving on to construction and the oilfield, I started working in Lafayette. After Aline and I became engaged, I became employed at Dresser Industries in Eunice. As far as I was concerned, I’d finally met my goal. I had a job that remained challenging, and I was working for a large company that had great benefits. Naïve to the realities of our economy, I really believed I’d retire there. But fate had other intentions. A few months after Aline and I were married, I was laid off due to a reduction in force.

After a period of unemployment I got a job at Martco in LeMoyen, LA. It was there that I learned how horrible and abusive some (few) employers could be. I will always remember how degrading it was to be on the job just a few days when we had our first employer to employee “pep talk.” The maintenance manager came into the electrical shop and told about nine of us how “you stupid coona---s need to be kissing our a---- ever morning for us bringing jobs to you.” Sadly, he really believed it. Looking back, I still don’t understand how I remained there a whole 3 months. I returned to electrical construction around Louisiana till 1987, when I became employed with Marathon Oil Company.

Looking back, I had many diverse jobs and job environments. Some were fantastic, like Marathon Oil Company and Brown & Root in the Port of New Iberia. Some were not so great. Only two, however, were horrible. Martco and one other clown outfit. I don’t recall the name of the company I went to work for immediately after I was laid off from Brown & Root, but I was employed with them for a total of four hours. I determined that these idiots were cut from the same slab of ignorance as Martco, and was even more determined to never go through that again. By GOD’s grace, I walked off the job and became employed the next day in Garyville, LA.

Later, while working as a Controls Electrician in Baton Rouge, I got an offer I couldn’t refuse from Marathon Oil Company. I took the job with Marathon in 1987 as an Electrician/Operator and worked offshore for three years. After our operations manager learned that I could program computers, he arranged a transfer to the Marathon office in Lafayette. I began working as an Engineering Technician, where my duties were to write computer programs for engineers. I remained in the engineering group till I joined the IT department as an IT Specialist.

Marathon was a good employer to me. I was working offshore when Stephanie was born. She had been born with severe genetic problems, requiring her to remain in neonatal ICU for about a month. The circumstances were very difficult. The geneticist told us that she would not survive more than 30 days, so we were just waiting for our daughter to die. I couldn’t return to work. My supervisor, Mark Heatherly, told me to not worry about coming back to work till I was ready. I missed three consecutive hitches offshore, and never lost one hour of pay. While Stephanie remained with us, it was often that I had to take days off, and yet they never docked my pay. On occasion they flew me in from offshore just to be with my family, again never docked my pay.

There are good employers out there, who treat their employees with respect and dignity, not because they are required by law, but because it’s the right thing to do.

After Marathon shut down operations in their Lafayette office, I chose not to go to Houston. I became employed with Pegasus International as a PLC Programmer. I remained with them for about two years, and then moved on to Dynamic Industries (Pneu-Elect) as a Project Manager. Today, I am co-owner of Sirius Technologies in Eunice. I still go offshore now and then. Unlike some of our competitors, I choose to remain under-staffed. Some of our guys work extra and I still take on jobs myself to cover the shortage. I’ve always had an aversion to laying people off, and only hire when certain that we won’t have to reduce staff as a result of over-hiring.

Like you, I know what it’s like to work for a living. I know what it’s like to be unemployed. I know how it feels to fear losing jobs to other countries. When I go to Washington, you won’t just be represented by someone who pretends to understand, you will know that I have had the same experiences as you. I’m not a rich businessman; I’m not a Doctor or Lawyer. Like you, I’m just a guy who works for a living; like you, I’m very worried about where our country is headed, and where our jobs are headed.

You can be assured that when you say, “He’s one of us”, it’s true.

Thanks for your support,

Peter Vidrine