Inside:
MEETING NOTICES
See
Page 6
Volume 115
Number 21
November 7, 2014
Portland, Oregon
ATU and TriMet ratify new labor
contract for first time in a decade
Portland park rangers
win raises in long-
sought first contract
It took 18 months, but
park rangers are now
part of the coalition of
City unions
City of Portland park rangers ratified
a collective bargaining agreement Oct.
31 that provides wage increases of up
to several dollars an hour, and adds
them to the larger agreement with the
multi-union coalition known as the Dis-
trict Council of Trade Unions (DCTU).
The City employs about two dozen
uniformed rangers who work with po-
lice, social service agencies, and neigh-
borhood groups to maintain security in
City parks. They solve conflicts, help
park users, and enforce dog leash/scoop
rules and prohibitions on camping and
alcohol consumption, and they can is-
sue park exclusions, if necessary.
In March 2013, the rangers union-
ized with Laborers Local 483, which
represents other Parks employees, but
the City refused to recognize their
choice until after it lost legal challenges
and saw the result of a May 2014 union
election. Bargaining commenced soon
after, though there wasn’t much of it:
The agreement rangers voted on was
substantially the same as the City’s ini-
tial offer. Still, the agreement contains
a number of improvements.
Under its terms, full-time permanent
rangers will have a starting wage of
$18.99 an hour (up from $17.47 an hour
currently), and get periodic raises until
they reach $25.16 after four years on
the job. Rangers hired as seasonal em-
ployees will make a starting wage of
$15.83 an hour (up from $12 an hour
now), rising to $20.55 in year 3.
Rangers will also participate in a safety
committee. Other terms, including
health insurance and other benefits,
match those of the DCTU contract, for
regular rangers. And seasonal rangers
will be eligible for health care benefits
under the City’s Seasonal Workers Plan
starting January 2015. Seasonal rangers
who perform satisfactorily will also get
priority consideration for rehire the fol-
lowing year.
This was the only time the rangers
will bargain separately with the City.
Next time, they expect to bargain as part
of the 1,600-member DCTU. The cur-
rent DCTU contract runs through June
30, 2017.
“From where we were two years
ago, it’s good,” said bargaining team
member Sam Sachs, one of the rangers
who led the push to unionize.
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By DON McINTOSH
Associate Editor
Members of Amalgamated Transit
Union (ATU) Local 757 have ratified a
new union contract at TriMet — for the
first time in over 10 years. A six-year
deal ratified in March 2004 was fol-
lowed by a four-year contract imposed
by an arbitrator. Earlier this year it
looked like the two sides would go to
binding arbitration a second time, after
contract bargaining stalled in May. In-
stead they reached a negotiated deal
Sept. 30 with the help of a state media-
tor. The new four-year agreement was
ratified by the TriMet Board Oct. 22
and by active union members in ballots
that were counted Oct. 24.
The agreement covers about 2,000
workers and 1,200 retirees, including
bus and rail operators, mechanics,
cleaners, and customer service work-
ers.
It provides 3 percent across-the-
board pay raises Dec. 1, 2014 and Dec.
1, 2015, plus immediate raises of $1
per hour for about 345 journey-level
workers.
It also resolves the most contention
in bargaining: health insurance.
“Our members fulfilled their com-
mitment to their passengers and the cit-
izens of the community by accepting
reduced health care benefits,” said Lo-
cal 757 President Bruce Hansen in a
press statement. TriMet says the reduc-
tions will reduce its expenses by $50
million over the life of the contract.
Under the new agreement, current
employees and retirees under 65 have
four choices: Pay 5 percent of the pre-
mium for a Kaiser Permanente plan
with $10 co-pays — or for a Regence
plan that pays 80 percent of health ex-
penses; pay that same amount plus the
extra premium in order to keep a cur-
rent Regence plan that pays 90 percent
of expenses; or pay no premium at all
for a high-deductible Regence plan that
combines with a health savings account
(HSA). Once current employees and
retirees become eligible for Medicare
at age 65, TriMet will reimburse their
Medicare premiums and pay for sup-
plemental insurance coverage. But fu-
ture hires won’t have employer-pro-
Oregon supremes hear
arguments in PERS case
By DON LOVING
SALEM — The waiting game begins in earnest now that
the Oregon Supreme Court has heard arguments in the Moro
case, the lawsuit filed by the PERS Coalition to overturn Pub-
lic Employee Retirement System (PERS) changes enacted
by the 2013 Oregon Legislature.
The Oregon high court heard from PERS Coalition attor-
ney Greg Hartman and others during oral arguments on Oct.
14. There are two primary issues to Moro: a change to re-
tirees’ cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) from a guaran-
teed 2 percent to a rolling, lesser figure based on annual re-
tirement benefits, and ceasing to pay a tax offset for
out-of-state residents.
As per court protocol, the petitioners — those who filed
the lawsuit — spoke first, led by Hartman representing the
PERS Coalition. The PERS Coalition is a voluntary associa-
tion of public employee unions with members in PERS. The
coalition is comprised of Oregon AFSCME; Oregon Educa-
tion Association; Service Employees International Union;
Oregon School Employees Association; American Federa-
tion of Teachers-Oregon; Oregon Nurses Association; Ore-
gon State Fire Fighters Council; Association of Oregon Fac-
ulty; Teamsters Local 223; the Association of Engineering
Employees; American Association of University Professors;
vided health insurance when they re-
tire: They’ll get $800 a month to pur-
chase health care until they become el-
igible for Medicare, at which point they
won’t be eligible for any TriMet insur-
ance benefit. Total monthly premiums
for active employees in 2015 will range
from $671 to $2,216, depending on
(Turn to Page 10)
Home Forward
first local body to
OK $15-an-hour
minimum wage
Inspired by a national protest move-
ment for a $15-an-hour wage for fast
food workers, some local unions have
begun talking about a $15 wage floor
for their own least-paid members.
On Oct. 31, AFSCME Local 3135
and Laborers Local 296 became the
first unions in the Portland area to put
$15 into their union contracts — thanks
to a proposal from Michael Buonocore,
the new executive director at Home
Forward. Home Forward, formerly
known as Housing Authority of Port-
land, is the federally-funded public cor-
(Turn to Page 10)
PERS Coalition attorney Greg Hartman makes a point
at the lectern before the Oregon Supreme Court Oct. 14.
Oregon State Police Officers Association; the District Coun-
cil of Trade Unions; the Association of Oregon Corrections
Employees; and Oregon PERS Retirees, Inc., an association
of PERS retirees.
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