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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (July 5, 2013)
TriMet pulls plug on annual picnic THE GOOD OLD DAYS: Family time, fun, and fellowship at ATU Local 757’s picnic in Blue Lake Park. Amalgamated Transit Union’s annual picnic at Blue Lake Re- gional Park was quite an event. As many as 7,000 people — ATU Local 757 members and their families — would attend the picnic, which was held in July or August each year. There were games for the kids, bingo for the grown-ups, and barbecue for all. The $50,000 event came courtesy of TriMet’s collective bar- gaining agreement with the union, in which the transit agency con- tributed to a recreation fund overseen by the union — TriMet’s own funds, plus proceeds from employee break room vending ma- chines. It was one of a handful of perks in a contract that since the 1980s contained no across-the-board raises except cost-of-living allowances intended to keep pace with inflation (though it did also maintain generous health and pension benefits.) But that bargained good-will gesture ended last year. Vending machine proceeds were diverted to a charity, and an arbitrator im- posed TriMet’s final contract offer, which included an end to its Rec Fund contribution. The 2012 picnic consumed the Fund’s re- maining balance. So there will be no picnic at Blue Lake this year for union tran- sit operators and mechanics. Instead, Local 757 President Bruce Hansen said the union is trying to secure a spot at Northwest Oregon Labor Council’s burst- ing-at-the-seams annual Labor Day picnic at Oaks Amusement Park. That location is also where ATU’s retired members have their annual picnic, which will take place Wednesday, July 10, at 11 a.m. Hansen said Local 757 is challenging the arbitrator’s decision, and hopes in the end to get the Rec Fund contribution reinstated. Wanted: Union-made elephant ears Zoo food workers want union rights and permanent work Temporary food service workers at the Oregon Zoo want a union. Labor- ers Local 483, which represents about 188 other zoo employees, says over 80 percent of the 160 food service em- ployees have signed union authoriza- tion cards seeking to join them. The workers have no beef at all with their front-line managers, said Local 483 spokesperson Megan Hise. It’s the wages and working conditions they’re objecting to. Nearly all are part-time and temporary, limited to 1,040 hours a year (the equivalent of 30 hours a week for nine months of the year). They make minimum wage and have no ben- efits. They start shifts without knowing when they’ll leave, because they are routinely sent home when sales are slow. They’re not allowed to accept tips — even when customers holding meet- ings at zoo event spaces pay a “gratu- ity” charge. And many zoo food service workers are on food stamps and rely on unemployment between layoff and rehire, Hise said. The Oregon Zoo is managed by Metro, the regional government for the Portland metropolitan area. Local 483 organizer Toby Green said the union campaign began when a zoo food service worker found out about an internal survey that was aimed at Local 483’s existing mem- bers, and filled it out online. Six months later, a 25-member worker committee is ready to proclaim “Zo- olidarity” forever — and petition with the Oregon Employment Relations Board to be added to the existing group. Local 483 has had some suc- cess getting benefits for temporary and seasonal workers at the City of Portland. “We want a chance to do work that we’re proud of,” one zoo food service worker told the Labor Press. Low Prices! 2-1-1 can be a lifesaver 2-1-1 is an easy to remember tele- phone number that connects callers to information about critical health and human services available in their com- munities. In Oregon, it is run by 211info, in partnership with United Way. It can be access on line at www.211info. org. PAGE 12 12-31-2013. Mon-Fri 9-6, Sat 9:30-5:30, Sun 12-6 2013 NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS JULY 5, 2013
