ATU and TriMet reach deal
TriMet and Amalgamated Transit
Union (ATU) Local 757 reached tenta-
tive agreement Sept. 30 on a new union
contract, but neither side is releasing
terms of the deal to the public until
members have had a chance to see the
agreement and vote on it.
Details were made available to Lo-
cal 757 members at TriMet on Oct. 14.
They will vote on it by mail, with bal-
lots to be counted Oct. 24. The agree-
ment covers about 2,000 workers and
1,200 retirees, though only active mem-
bers vote on it. The TriMet Board is ex-
pected to vote on the agreement at its
Oct. 22 meeting.
The four-year agreement comes
nearly two years after the old union
contract expired. That contract was the
result of binding arbitration: The arbi-
trator had to choose one side’s final of-
fer, and chose TriMet’s.
EE
R
F
Before the tentative agreement was
announced, it looked like this contract
too was headed for binding arbitration.
TriMet declared an impasse in negotia-
tions on May 14, but the two sides con-
tinued to meet with the assistance of
state mediator Janet Gillman.
If the deal is ratified, the two sides
have also agreed to drop all pending
unfair labor practice cases. Local 757
had challenged the arbitrator’s award
on the grounds that elements of
TriMet’s final offer were unlawful.
If approved, the new agreement
would be retroactive to Dec. 1, 2012,
and would run through Nov. 30, 2016.
The two sides got off to a late start ne-
gotiating due to a legal dispute over
whether bargaining should be open to
the public, and made slow progress
once face-to-face bargaining began in
September 2013.
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PAGE 6
By Tom Chamberlain
Recently, U. S. Speaker of the
House John Boehner was caught
on tape expressing his true opinion
of the unemployed: “Unemployed
people just sit around and don’t
think they have to work,” he said.
Speaker Boehner must be un-
aware that there are two job appli-
cants for every job opening. He
must be unaware that unemployed
workers are listening to the hollow
promise that education is the key to
a better life, going back to school,
racking up debt to pay for their de-
gree or certificate, only to find a
minimum wage or sub living wage
job with no benefits awaiting them.
Mr. Boehner must be unaware that
his drive to further corporatize our
economy has resulted in colleges
— especially some for-profit pri-
vate colleges — becoming more
focused on their bottom line than
on providing an education to lift
Americans out of the grips of
poverty.
For-profit colleges such as the
University of Phoenix have been
the subject of many news articles.
There’s reason for that. In 2011, 88
percent of the University of
Phoenix’s income came from fed-
eral programs, most of it from stu-
dent loans that equate to $3.2 bil-
lion. Almost a quarter of their
students default on their loans. Ac-
cording to the Washington Post, in
2013 the University of Phoenix
graduation rate was 16 percent.
Three out of every 20 students
graduate. Seventeen don’t.
We have turned into a society
that is quick to blame the victim
rather than find solutions. Speaker
Boehner’s comments on the unem-
ployed reveal some insight into the
thinking of those with wealth and
power.
If we can blame those who work
minimum wage jobs or the unem-
ployed for not working hard
enough to better their lives; if we
can destroy economies with out-of-
balance trade agreements that ex-
ploit workers and force those same
workers to flee their homelands in
search of work to feed their fami-
lies; if we can shift the responsibil-
ity of health care and pensions from
the employer or government onto
the backs of the workers, then it be-
comes much easier to dismantle
America’s tattered social safety net.
Unemployment insurance, So-
cial Security, Medicare and Medi-
caid, food for the hungry, housing,
education and a host of other pro-
grams from the New Deal of the
1930s and the Great Society of the
1960s are being transformed into
for-profit, private sector, programs
that put the expense squarely on the
backs of workers.
Good job creation is just another
example of blaming the worker.
We all talk a good game about
good job creation. Everyone seems
to be aware of the shrinking middle
class. The loss of jobs is undeni-
able. But the blame is placed on the
worker. The say more skilled and
educated workers are needed, or we
can’t compete. I am always in fa-
vor of a highly trained workforce.
But manufacturing jobs or other
types of occupations that histori-
cally fit the definition of a middle
class job don’t necessarily translate
into a good paying jobs. There are
thousands of manufacturing jobs in
Portland that pay sub-middle class
wages with few or no benefits.
Those who promote good jobs, the
need for increased job skills, the
need for greater individual respon-
sibility, apparently believe that
good paying jobs with benefits just
happen.
Good jobs don’t just appear.
That strategy will continue to fail
because the thirst for increased
profit will continue to come at the
expense of workers. The fact is the
only way to counter the blame
game and to ensure that we do cre-
ate good-paying jobs is to ensure
that workers have power.
And that requires having a union
card in their hands.
Tom Chamberlain is president of
the Oregon AFL-CIO.
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NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
OCTOBER 17, 2014