Northwest labor press., June 18, 2010, Image 1

June 18, 2010 :NWLP
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Volume 111
Number 12
June 18, 2010
Portland, Oregon
Transit Union Local 757 sounds alarm to ‘Save Our Ride’
350 rally in Portland, asking Congress to allow use of federal transit funds for operations
ATU Local 757 held a rally in downtown Portland June 11 to call on Congress to allow transit districts to use federal
money for operations and maintenance. Right now, in most cases, federal mass transit funds can only go toward
buying new equipment like buses and trains.
By DON McINTOSH
Associate Editor
Ridership is steady at mass transit
systems around the United States, yet
transit districts are cutting service and
raising fares. The reason: Most local
transit systems rely on dedicated taxes
for most of their funding, and those
revenues are down in the recession.
In Gary, Indiana, and Clayton
County, Georgia, the shortage is severe
enough that bus service may be elimi-
nated altogther, says Amalgamated
Transit Union (ATU) Legislative Di-
rector Jeff Rosenberg. ATU, which rep-
resents workers in mass transit, is team-
ing up with fellow transit union
Transport Workers Union (TWU) to
advocate federal rescue of mass transit.
To sound the alarm, the two unions
are holding rallies around the country.
The rallies call on Congress to allow
transit districts to use federal money for
operations and maintenance. Right
now, in most cases, federal mass transit
funds can only go toward buying new
equipment like buses and trains.
“It makes no sense to buy a new bus
and then leave it sitting in the garage
because it lacks a driver,” said ATU
President Warren George at a June 11
“Save Our Ride” rally in Portland that
drew about 350 people. “What we’re
asking for is the money that’s already
been appropriated. We ask that local
decisions be made at a local level.”
A survey released April 1 by the
American Public Transportation Asso-
ciation (APTA) reported that 59 per-
cent of public transit systems have
raised fares or cut service since the be-
ginning of 2009. Local examples are
plenty.
C-TRAN, which serves Vancouver
and other Clark County, Washington,
communities, cut 6 percent of its bus
runs in January, and laid off 12 part-
time workers.
“Your system gets to the point of ir-
relevance if you cut too much,” Jim
Quintana, senior manager of develop-
ment and public affairs at C-TRAN,
told the Labor Press. “In the worst case
scenario, our system would get cut in
half in the next five years.”
C-TRAN, like most transit systems,
is funded by a local sales tax; C-
TRAN’s is 0.5 percent.
On the Oregon side of the Colum-
bia River, TriMet — the Portland metro
area transit agency — is unusual in that
it is funded largely by an employer
payroll tax — 0.006808 percent. But
the result is the same: Revenues fall
when times are tough.
On June 6, TriMet instituted its lat-
est round of service cuts, reducing fre-
(Turn to Page 8)
On University of Oregon athletic construction projects
Building trades unions squawk at Ducks’ no-bid contracting
EUGENE — Oregon’s State Board of Higher Education voted at
its June 4 meeting to allow a private group to build a new soccer
and lacrosse complex, and improvements to the existing Len
Casanova Athletic Center — on land belonging to University of
Oregon. The buildings would then be given to the university, and
would be operated and maintained with funds from UO athletic de-
partment revenues and gifts.
Representatives of Oregon building trades unions are concerned
that the project is set up that way to skirt competitive bidding and
public disclosure requirements, and possibly avoid the obligation
to pay construction workers the prevailing wage. Answering some
of these concerns, the Board spelled out that the licensee, Phit LLC,
will comply with prevailing wage standards, and make a good faith
effort to employ emerging small businesses and businesses owned
by women and minorities.
Phit, a subsidiary of the University of Oregon Foundation, con-
structed the recently-opened John E. Jaqua Academic Center for
Student Athletes on the same model; both projects are funded with
donations from Nike founder Phil Knight.
Even so, the arrangement appeared to be controversial to the
Board, and passed with six ‘yes’ votes and four abstentions. Some
Board members voiced their discomfort over pressure to approve
the deal immediately, without time to have their questions answered.
“If it’s not approved today, it’s the end of the deal,” UO president
Richard Lariviere told Board members. “I’m convinced it’s not a
negotiating tactic or ploy. That’s a hard line.”
“I asked the question, ‘Why this structure at all? Why not just
make a donation to the university to get this done?’” Lariviere said.
“And the answer I was given is that on two previous occasions,
that’s exactly what the donors did, and the cost overruns were over
30 percent, and the delays were over a year.”
Building trades leaders dispute that claim, and say the issue is
transparency.
“We just want it to be done above board and fairly,” said John En-
dicott, business manager of United Association of Plumbers and
Steamfitters Local 290. “If our contractors don’t get the work and
it’s done fairly, that’s life in the business,” Endicott told the Labor
Press. “If it’s not done fairly, and somebody’s been cheated out of an
opportunity for work, that’s not right.”
Other UO athletic construction projects give Endicott cause for
concern. After the Oregon Legislature voted in 2008 to approve
$200 million in bonds to construct the UO’s Matthew Knight bas-
ketball arena, UO used an emergency clause to select a general con-
tractor for the project without a competitive bidding process. Na-
tional Championship Properties, which got the no-bid contract, is
also a subsidiary of the University of Oregon Foundation. Later, a
union subcontractor submitted the low bid, and then was called back
multiple times for interviews by the general contractor, before los-
ing out to another firm. UO didn’t cooperate with requests for in-
(Turn to Page 9)