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March 2, 2018 | NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
...View from the driver’s seat
From Page 1
for that? I wouldn’t say it’s any
more unsafe than being any-
where else in public. I think
you’re as safe riding a bus as go-
ing to the mall or a movie the-
ater. We certainly do our best to
keep people safe while we’re
driving them somewhere. I think
when you have a stabbing on the
MAX, or you hear about opera-
tors getting assaulted, it gives the
false illusion that it’s unsafe to
ride transit. I think there’s room
for improvement on safety in
transit, but as a general rule, I
don’t think it’s any more unsafe
than anywhere else.
Many of your blog posts are
about everyday gripes. What
are the three most annoying
things a bus driver deals with?
People who are unprepared to
ride the bus. They stand at a bus
stop waiting for a bus looking at
their phone, and when the bus
gets there, they’re fumbling in
their pockets. That wastes a lot
of time. Be prepared. Get on
board with the fare in your hand,
like the sign on the door says.
Another thing: traffic. You
know, there’s a yield sign on the
back of the bus. ORS 811.167
says you must yield to a transit
vehicle that is trying to re-enter
a traffic lane when it has its yield
light blinking. People routinely
don’t do that. Number three:
Transit management should be
our partner, not our enemy.
What would you say about
your union to people who are
unfamiliar with it? This has
been my first union job. I depend
heavily on the union when I have
to meet with management.
They’re in our corner. They’re
the very first people I turn to
when I have a question about the
contract or any part of the job. I
trust my union. They’re always
working on getting us better
terms in our contract. The unions
are in our corner, and in the past
40 years, they’ve been under at-
tack by big money, because
unions want a bigger chunk for
the people who do the work in
the world versus the people who
sit in their big leather chairs and
look down and pull the puppet
strings on the politicians. There’s
plenty of room for more unions.
More people should turn to
unions so their jobs are protected.
Everyone who does a blue collar
job is one or two paychecks from
the street. It’s hard making a liv-
ing out there, and you need pro-
tection. Unions are the only ones
who give a damn about you.
Management and corporations
really don’t care about the indi-
vidual; they care about the bot-
tom line.
If you found yourself face-to-
face with TriMet manage-
ment, what would you tell
them about what they’re doing
right or wrong? What they’re
doing wrong is treating us like
an adversary. We’re the ones
who do the work out here. They
should be supporting us in any
way possible instead of making
life more difficult. There used to
be big signs in the garages that
said ‘safety first.’ They took
them down. Now they’re push-
ing schedule. But to be fair, I’d
like to say that lately I’ve seen a
trend toward more positive
things. I’d say they’re finally
waking up to our safety needs as
operators, operator assault is-
sues.
As a TriMet bus operator,
you’re a public employee. Do
you see yourself as a public
servant? Yes, my friend [and
fellow driver] Tom Horton likes
to say we’re shepherds of the
public safety. Any bus operator
in the world plays a very impor-
tant part in their community’s
economy. We take Portland to
work and drive them home
again. We see things happening
on the road and tell dispatch to
alert emergency services. We
play a much more vital role in
the community than we get
credit for.
You write that you love your
job. What do you like most
about it? I love dealing with the
people of Portland. They’re one
of the most diverse populaces
I’ve ever come in contact with. I
love the friendliness of most
people. On the way out of the
bus almost every passenger says
thank you for the ride. I like the
scenery of Portland. I like to say
my office has six wheels and a
beautiful view. I’ve always en-
joyed working with people, and
I’ve made a lot of friends in this
job, both operators and passen-
gers. I love driving that big old
beast around town every day.
—Don McIntosh
THE BOOK
Just Drive: Life in the Bus Lane is
available at Broadway Books in
Portland, or online via amazon.com
Jill Alcantar
360.787.6975
12/31/18
2018
COLLECTIVE
BARGAINING
No more ‘buddies’:
Nurses hail new
Tuality contract
Oregon Nurses Associa-
tion (ONA) reports that a
newly ratified nurse union
contract at Tuality Com-
munity Hospital breaks
new ground: It’s the first
time an Oregon hospital
has committed to use dedi-
cated “break relief” nurses
to give other nurses their
rest and meal breaks with-
out leaving patients under-
attended.
The new program re-
places a “buddy system”
method of giving breaks in
which a nurse’s patients
are added to another
nurse’s load for the dura-
tion of the break. In the
buddy system, patients are
down one nurse when
nurses take their legally-
mandated meal and rest
breaks. By contrast, Tual-
ity’s new system maintains
the same level of patient
care throughout a shift.
ONA has been cam-
paigning against the buddy
system at hospitals through-
out Oregon, arguing that as-
signing a nurse to care for
twice as many patients can
increase the risk of patient
infections and missed care,
and violate hospital staffing
plans. At St. Charles Hospi-
tal in Bend, ONA nurses
filed a staffing complaint
based on buddy system
abuses in 2017 that resulted
in an investigation by the
Oregon Health Authority
— and a state mandate that
the hospital change its
staffing plans.
The new union contract,
ratified overwhelmingly in
a Feb. 13 vote, covers
about 200 nurses at the
hospital Tuality Commu-
nity Hospital, a nonprofit
167-bed facility in Hills-
boro. The contract also
raises wages 4.5 percent
over the life of the agree-
ment, and expands staff
training. It runs through
March 31, 2020. Nurses’
previous contract with Tu-
ality expired Dec. 31,
2017.