...TriMet threatens to sue drivers
(From Page 1)
letter continues. “In the meantime, we
ask that you stand together in solidarity,
and refuse to respond to TriMet’s pay-
ment demand until such time as we ob-
tain a judicial decision.”
TriMet’s sample letter contains a
Sept. 28 deadline for employees to re-
spond, but as of press time, the actual
letter had not gone out. Fetsch, in the e-
mail, said not all scenarios have been
fully researched and calculated: “This
will take some additional time as we are
being very careful in order to provide
employees an accurate accounting.”
The amounts owed differ depending
on whether employees were part-time
or full-time, active or retired, whether
they had enrolled dependents or not,
whether they were enrolled in the
Kaiser or Regence plan, and whether
any of those things changed between
November 2009 and August 2012, as
well as whether or not employees opted
in January 2011 (at TriMet’s direction)
to accept lower benefits or keep richer
benefits and pay a premium.
That last point, especially, highlights
the unfairness of the repayment de-
mand. While bargaining went on,
TriMet willingly extended the old ben-
efit formula for a year. Then it asked
employees starting January 2011 to pay
their increased cost, or take reduced
benefits and pay no premium. Now,
even employees who opted for reduced
benefits with no premium are being
asked to pay $1,182 or $4,225 — be-
cause the benefit level of that first year,
which TriMet had voluntarily extended,
was richer than the level the arbitrator
ended up imposing two years later.
The arbitrator’s ruling itself is con-
tradicted by a July 18 administrative
law judge’s order. TriMet has appealed
that order to the state Employment Re-
lations Board (ERB).
Local 757 has also filed a separate
legal challenge to the arbitrator’s rul-
ing, arguing in filings with ERB that
it’s illegal to impose a contract proposal
that itself contains elements which are
illegal.
Meanwhile, in TriMet’s ERB charge
over the union’s letter to members, it
asks that ATU be ordered to tell its
members to cooperate and to “make
TriMet whole for health insurance pay-
ments it is unable to recoup as a result
of ATU's unlawful acts.”
Bargaining has not yet begun for the
contract that would begin Dec. 1.
Record number of women to serve on prevailing wage panel
Jodi Guetzloe Parker, executive sec-
retary-treasurer of the Columbia Pacific
Building and Construction Trades
Council, and Nelda Wilson, business
manager of Operating Engineers Local
701, have been appointed to the Pre-
vailing Wage Advisory Committee
(PWAC) by Oregon Labor Commis-
sioner Brad Avakian.
The new appointments become ef-
fective Nov. 1 and mark a transition
from having no women on the commit-
tee to having three. The third appointee
is Val Solorzano, founder of Chick of
All Trades and owner of C.O.A.T. Flag-
ging.
“I am always impressed by the cal-
iber of individuals willing and able to
serve on the Prevailing Wage Advisory
Committee,” Avakian said. “The addi-
tion of three highly qualified women
brings a wider diversity of experience
and reflects my desire to see more
women taking on policy-setting roles at
the state level.”
PWAC was created by legislative ac-
tion in 2003, directing the Bureau of
Labor and Industries commissioner to
appoint six representatives each from
management and labor to provide ad-
vice to the agency on issues relating to
Oregon’s prevailing wage rate law.
Norman Malbin, in-house counsel
for IBEW Local 48, is the labor co-
chair on the committee.
IN MEMORIAM
K EN S PRAY , retired director
of collective bargaining for
United Food and Commercial
Workers (UFCW) Local 555,
passed away at his home in
Beaverton on Sept. 20, after
fighting a long battle with brain
cancer. He was 64.
K ENNETH W. S PRAY was
born in Heppner, Oregon, on Oct. 8,
1947 to Richard and Esther Spray. He
was raised in Spokane, Washington,
where he graduated from high school
and met and married his childhood
sweetheart, Georgia Williams. They
were wed on Feb. 26, 1966.
Spray served in the United States
Navy. After a medical discharge he
went to work as a union organizer for
his father-in-law, the late Bill Williams,
who was secretary-treasurer of Spokane
Service Employees International Union
(SEIU) Local 202.
Spray worked for a myriad of union
locals throughout his career.
In 1972, SEIU sent him to Vancou-
ver, Wash., to fill a vacancy at Local 92.
There, he helped with an organizing and
contract campaign that led to the first
unionized hospital in Washington under
a new law covering hospitals.
The following year he was in Seattle
working at SEIU Local 6, and in 1975
he was off to Alaska to represent mem-
bers of Public Employees Local 71 and
the Alaska Public Employees Associa-
tion. While there, Spray also worked as
a wage and hour investigator for the
state, helping recover millions of dol-
lars for mistreated workers.
In 1988, Spray moved to
Las Vegas to take a position as
international rep for SEIU Lo-
cal 1107, and later as executive
director of the SEIU Council in
Orange County, Calif.
He worked for SEIU Local
503 in Oregon starting in 1990.
In 1992 he was hired by
Oregon AFSCME Council 75, and in
2003 he worked at UFCW Local 365 in
Olympia, Washington.
He started work as a union rep for
Tigard-based UFCW Local 555 in Au-
gust of 2004, covering Southern Ore-
gon. His family resided in Medford.
Shortly after Dan Clay was elected
president of Local 555 in 2008, he
named Spray director of collective bar-
gaining for the local.
“Ken led the department through
some of the most difficult and challeng-
ing times most workers have ever seen
at the bargaining table or in workplaces
across the country,” said Clay. “Wher-
ever he went, whatever he did, Ken be-
lieved in workers. He fought for work-
ers and he sacrificed for workers.”
Spray’s illness caused him to retire
in December 2011.
Spray is survived by his wife, Geor-
gia; son, William; daughter, Yvonne
Fink; four grandchildren, one great-
grandson; brother, Dick Spray; sister
Judy Hoferer; and numerous nieces and
nephews.
Contributions may be made in his
memory to the American Cancer Soci-
ety. A celebration of life will be held at
a later date.
Labor again partners with United Way
Columbia-Willamette for 2012 campaign
As the United Way of the Columbia-
Willamette 2012 fundraising campaign
kicks off, it has been recognized for its
financial integrity by Charity Navigator,
the Better Business Bureau, and
GuideStar. They put the local United
Way among the top non-profit organi-
zations in the nation in terms of its re-
sponsible use of donations.
“This ‘exceptional’ designation dif-
ferentiates United Way of the Colum-
bia-Willamette from its peers and
demonstrates to the public it is worthy
of their trust,” said Ken Berger, presi-
dent and CEO of Charity Navigator, the
largest independent evaluator of chari-
ties.
The Charity Navigator rating focuses
on financial health and accountability.
The rating shows that Charity Naviga-
tor believes United Way is using its
funds efficiently and sharing sufficient
information with donors and the public.
This is the first year that United Way
of the Columbia-Willamette has been
awarded the Better Business Bureau
Charity Seal. For donors, it means that
United Way has been extensively evalu-
ated by the BBB and passed its stan-
dards for spending funds prudently,
OCTOBER 5, 2012
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
sharing information transparently,
measuring the organization’s effective-
ness and following good governance
standards.
The GuideStar Exchange Seal is
based on open sharing of information,
including financial statements, annual
reports, and details about programs and
leadership. The Exchange Seal is new
this year from GuideStar. When decid-
ing whether to donate to United Way,
donors can access all of this informa-
tion at http://bit.ly/uwfinancials to help
them make the best choice.
In addition to these ratings, United
Way of the Columbia-Willamette also
exceeds industry standards for its over-
head rating. Overhead in the fiscal year
ending June 30, 2011, was 14.2 per-
cent. Recommendations range from
17.5 percent for Charity Navigator to
35 percent for GuideStar and the Better
Business Bureau.
One hundred percent of overhead
costs of United Way of the Columbia-
Willamette are covered by its Corner-
stone Partner Program, whereby large
corporate donations cover that cost. As
a result, 100 percent of a union mem-
bers’ private donation goes directly
back into the community.
In last year’s campaign, United Way
of the Columbia-Willamette raised
$22,005,560. Almost $12 million of
that is sent directly to the charity of the
donor’s choice — which includes La-
bor’s Community Service Agency.
Labor’s Community Service Agency
established its partnership with United
Way in 1974. That partnership has con-
tinued to grow, and over the last five
years United Way has invested
$750,000 into the agency.
To find out more about United Way
and Labor’s Community Service
Agency, or to have someone from the
agency speak at your union local, call
503-231-4962.
(Editor’s Note: Bob Tackett, execu-
tive secretary-treasurer of the North-
west Oregon Labor Council, and Bar-
bara Mathey, CEO of IBEW and United
Workers Federal Credit Union, serve on
the United Way of the Columbia-
Willamette board of directors. Vickie
Burns, executive director of Labor’s
Community Service Agency, is a mem-
ber of this year’s strategic planning
committee.)
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