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September 1, 2017 | NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
NORTHWEST
...Void where prohibited? At TriMet it could cost your job
LABOR
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Paula
defecated in the parking lot. Bal-
ick and TV anchor Jeff Gianola
told the story from the perspec-
tive of the outraged office
worker, who presumably has ac-
cess to a workplace restroom.
They expressed no sympathy for
the unnamed driver.
Stevens’ union, however, de-
fended her. An officer of Amal-
gamated Transit Union (ATU)
Local 757 represented her in a
disciplinary hearing. Labor’s
Community Service Agency, a
union-sponsored charity for
union members in hardship,
helped pay her rent. And Local
757’s communication depart-
ment gave Stevens the chance to
tell her side of the story in a
video the union published on
YouTube July 28.
After two paycheck-free
months, Stevens was formally
terminated on Aug. 21.
“You urinated on the ground
next to your vehicle,” First Tran-
sit said in her termination letter.
That’s “a Class 1 infraction” the
letter explained — “illegal, im-
moral or indecent behavior.”
Local 757 has filed a griev-
ance protesting the termination.
Because it’s a human rights is-
sue, says Local 757 vice presi-
Photo by Andrew Riley
(International Standard Serial Number 0894-444X)
THe ULTIMaTe PORT-a-POTTY? Yes, that’s ATU Local 757 VP Jon Hunt, and
yes, he’s holding a toilet next to a TriMet bus. Retiree Bob Cummings is shoot-
ing a series of videos to publicize the union’s “Pee in Peace” campaign high-
lighting inadequate restroom breaks and facilities, a major issue for drivers.
dent Jon Hunt, Stevens’ fellow
union members may be willing
to take her case all the way to
binding arbitration.
“What’s the message to this
group: Go in your pants or
you’re going to be terminated?”
Hunt asked.
Taking bathroom breaks is a
perennial challenge for profes-
sional drivers of all kinds. It’s a
problem for TriMet bus opera-
tors, Hunt says, and even more
so for TriMet LIFT drivers, who
may not be able to leave vulner-
able passengers unattended.
Even as Local 757 is fighting to
get Stevens’ job back, one of her
co-workers is facing termination
after more than 15 years of work
at TriMet LIFT — for urinating
in a bottle on or next to a bus.
Stevens’ grievance is against
First Transit, but Hunt is con-
vinced First Transit was told by
TriMet to fire Stevens. Even as
it was terminating her from
TriMet LIFT, First Transit of-
fered her a position in its school
bus division.
Stevens declined the offer.
She loved helping disabled indi-
viduals get around, and after
two and a half years, she’d been
earning $17.77 an hour plus
benefits, and working up to 60
hours a week.
Like Hunt, Stevens thinks she
was fired because she embar-
rassed TriMet.
“You think they were embar-
rassed?” Stevens told the Labor
Press. “How do you think I
felt?”
TriMet spokesperson Tia
York wouldn’t say whether a
TriMet manager directed that
Stevens be fired, but explained
agency policy in an emailed
statement: “LIFT operators are
allowed to take comfort breaks
outside regular break times, but
for safety and security reasons,
they are required to first contact
dispatch. If the operator finds
herself in an unfamiliar area,
dispatch will guide her to a lo-
cation where she can utilize the
restroom at no cost. The opera-
tor in this situation did not con-
tact dispatch to request a com-
fort break before stopping her
vehicle and relieving herself in
a parking lot.”
IN HER OWN WORDS
Teressa Stevens tells her own story in
a union video published on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/8CVOwFj2Duo