Feb. 4, 2011:NWLP
2/1/11
10:14 AM
Inside
Page 1
MEETING NOTICES
See
Page 6
Volume 112
Number 3
February 4, 2011
Portland, Oregon
Conciliator has TriMet and ATU talking after threat of strike
Amid threats of a wildcat transit
strike, a state conciliator on Jan. 28 per-
suaded leaders of Amalgamated Transit
Union (ATU) Local 757 and TriMet to
take a step back and try to resolve their
differences.
“It’s probably the most movement
we’ve seen from TriMet so far,” said
Local 757 President Jonathan Hunt.
“But we’re not there yet.”
A second meeting was scheduled
Feb. 2 (after this issue of the Labor
Press went to press).
The sides have been engaged in a la-
bor dispute since the old contract ex-
pired Nov. 30, 2009. State law prohibits
transit workers from striking and re-
quires that all contract disputes be set-
tled by binding arbitration.
However, at a TriMet board meeting
Jan. 26, Hunt said union members —
frustrated by the transit agency’s “ille-
gal implementation” of health insur-
ance premium copays — are ready to
stop bus and train service.
“Every single day I hear from my
members, ‘you guys (TriMet) are break-
ing the law, you don’t care about binding
arbitration, so why should we?’” Hunt
said. “ I’m telling you, our group is ask-
ing and going to put forward reductions
within our workforce; you are going to
have service stopped.You are telling us,
‘the law means nothing.’ ”
The union has filed two unfair labor
practice (ULP) complaints with the
Steve Fung, a member of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 757 and a part-
time bus operator at TriMet, joined about 100 people Jan. 26 in front of the
downtown Portland Building, site of a TriMet board of directors meeting, to
protest the transit agency’s Jan. 1 unilateral change to health insurance
premiums. Fung, who was TriMet’s “Part-Time Operator of the Year” last
year, said his goal is to help inform the public that operators aren’t getting a
free ride and the implemented contract is having serious ramifications —
especially among retirees.
Oregon Employment Relations Board.
One alleges that TriMet changed its bar-
gaining position when petitioning for
arbitration in July 2010. The other is for
unilaterally changing their agreement
over health insurance costs, a move the
union says was in retaliation for filing
the first ULP.
TriMet had been honoring the terms
of the expired contract until this year,
when it started charging active and re-
tired members for a portion of their
health insurance premiums. The in-
crease in monthly out-of-pocket costs
ranges from $15.31 to $234.70, de-
pending on the carrier and coverage.
The Oregon Employment Relations
Board isn’t expected to hear the cases
until May. But before leaving office,
Gov. Ted Kulongoski asked state con-
ciliator Robert Nightingale to “clear his
schedule” in order to assist the sides in
resolving the dispute. The Jan. 28 meet-
ing proved fruitful.
Meantime, the union has been hold-
ing large rallies prior to TriMet board
meetings to inform the public of the al-
leged illegal actions, and packing those
meetings to plead with board members
to get TriMet General Manager Neil
McFarlane to rescind his order on
health insurance copays.
The seven-person TriMet board of
directors is appointed by the governor.
“Somehow there is this perception
we’re not willing to move on health in-
surance copays,” Hunt told the Labor
Press. “That’s just not true. But you
can’t shove it down our throats and ex-
pect us to say ‘thank you.’ ”
At the Jan. 26 board meeting, Hunt
said TriMet was getting “bad advice”
from its attorneys — advice that ulti-
mately could cost the agency millions
of dollars in backpay and penalties.
He offered to pull the two unfair la-
bor practice complaints if TriMet re-
versed the change in health insurance
and returned to the bargaining table.
“In one day,” Hunt told the board,
“we could deal with these unfair labor
practice issues and come to an agree-
ment on a new contract, if TriMet is
willing to recognize what we see as un-
lawful actions and put a stop to them.”
Hunt also invited board members to
sit in on negotiations to see first-hand
what is being proposed.
“I’ll commit to (bargain) every sin-
gle day that Mr. McFarlane will com-
mit,” Hunt said. If at the end of the day,
an agreement can’t be reached, Hunt
suggested the sides sign a joint letter to
(Turn to Page 4)
In Oregon and Washington
Carpenters dissolve 15 locals, charter four new locals
United Brotherhood of Carpenters
and Joiners of America dissolved 15 of
its Oregon and Washington locals ef-
fective Jan. 24, and replaced them with
four newly-chartered locals, one local
each for general carpenters, mill-
wrights, pile drivers, and drywall car-
penters. The changes, which were out-
lined in a letter to members from
General President Doug McCarron,
also include dues reductions and a shift
to a new centralized dispatch system
run by the Pacific Northwest Regional
Council of Carpenters.
The union will close some offices
and lay off some office staff. The dis-
solved locals — 247, 1388, 1065, 1707,
1001, 2154, 1715, 1273, 306, 2067,
711, 204, 1699, 2416, and 2396 — had
a combined membership of about
7,000, according to the most recent fil-
ings with the U.S. Department of Labor.
Newly-chartered Carpenters Local
156 now represents all general carpen-
ters in the state of Oregon, plus four
Southwest Washington counties (Clark,
Skamania, Cowlitz, Wahkiakum), to-
taling about 4,000 members. Local 156
comprises members of former locals
247, 1388, 1065, 1707, 1001 and 2067,
plus carpenter members in mixed lo-
cals 1715, 306, and 1273. McCarron
appointed Doug Tweedy interim presi-
dent and Wayne Frazey interim finan-
cial secretary.
In that same Oregon and Southwest
Washington area, all drywall hangers
now belong to newly-chartered Interior
Systems Local 146. It comprises former
interior/exterior Local 2154 plus inte-
rior specialists from mixed locals 306,
1273, and 1715, for a combined mem-
bership of roughly 1,300 members. Mc-
Carron appointed Bruce Epstein in-
terim president and Norman Curry in-
terim financial secretary.
Both locals — Local 156 and Local
146 — will be headquartered in the
union hall that formerly belonged to
Local 1388, at 276 Warner-Milne Rd.
in Oregon City, Oregon.
Meanwhile, all pile driver members
in Oregon, Washington, Montana,
Idaho, and Wyoming now belong to
newly-chartered Pile Drivers Local
196, which takes as its headquarters the
former Local 2396 hall at 4696 Pacific
Hwy East in Fife, Washington. Local
196 includes about 1,000 members
from former locals 2416 and 2396, plus
any pile driver who belonged to a
mixed local in those states. McCarron
appointed Dena Rempelos interim
president and Leiter Hockett interim fi-
nancial secretary.
Finally, all millwrights in Oregon,
Washington, Montana, and Idaho are
now members of newly-chartered Mill-
wrights Local 96, which will use for-
mer Local 1699’s office at 515 N. Neel
St in Kennewick, Washington as its
headquarters. The new local combines
about 700 millwrights from locals 711,
204, and 1699, plus any millwrights
from mixed locals — except for Metal
Trades Local 2403 at Hanford, Wash-
ington, and Local 808 in Idaho Falls,
Idaho, which continue as autonomous
locals. McCarron appointed Dave
Rupe interim president and Justin Mc-
Clendon interim financial secretary.
All assets of the dissolved locals are
being transferred to the regional coun-
cil. Some or all of those assets may be
apportioned among the newly estab-
lished locals, McCarron said in the let-
ter.
Not all of the 15 dissolved locals
had offices and staff, but some did. The
Carpenters-owned buildings on the
2200 block of N. Lombard St. in Port-
land and at 3655 Kashmir Way SE in
Salem are said to be up for sale.
The consolidation reduces overhead
and duplication of services, and thus al-
lows local dues to be reduced, ex-
plained Regional Council Executive
Secretary-Treasurer Doug Tweedy in
letters to members of each local.
“While we are proud of where we
have been and the local unions that
helped us to achieve so much,” Tweedy
said in the letters, “our general presi-
dent has signaled that we must con-
tinue to adapt to the industry’s changes
or be left behind.”
For all four of the new local unions,
dispatching will now be centralized and
operated by the regional council using
a new automated system.