NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS |
November 2, 2018 | PAGE 3
COLLECTIVE BARGAINING
New TriMet Lift contracts raise wages up to $3.91 an hour
Members of Portland-headquar-
tered Amalgamated Transit
Union Local 757 ratified new
collective bargaining agreements
with United Kingdom-based
First Transit, which contracts
with TriMet to provde lift serv-
ices. The pacts cover a period of
six years, from the expiration of
the previous agreements to June
30, 2022, and specify annual
raises averaging about 3.2 per-
cent.
TriMet LIFT is the region’s
shared-ride service for elderly
and disabled passengers who
have difficulty accessing the
regular fixed route bus and train
service lines. TriMet divides
LIFT service into three regions,
one for each of the three metro-
area counties. That has resulted
in three separate union bargain-
ing units and three separate (and
quite different) union contracts,
even though First Transit is the
TriMet contractor for all three
counties. Local 757 and First
Transit continue to negotiate
over the contract that covers
Clackamas County.
The Multnomah County unit,
with 102 workers, will see start-
ing wages rise from $15.14 to
$17.55 an hour under the new
contract, while top wages for
drivers with 10 years or more will
rise from $24.10 to $27.94. Their
previous contract expired April
30, 2016. Members ratified the
new agreement Oct. 8 by 68 to 7.
Meanwhile, the Washington
County unit, with 108 workers,
will see starting wages rise from
$14.97 to $17.35 an hour under
the new contract, and top wages
for drivers with 5 years or more
of experience will rise from
$24.59 to $28.50. Their previ-
ous contract expired May 30,
2016. Members ratified the new
agreement Oct. 10 by 72 to 21.
Union bargaining committees
recommended approval of both
agreements. Both contracts run
through June 30, 2022, and in-
clude retroactive pay increases
dating back to July 1, 2016 and
July 1, 2017. That will result in
workers getting one-time back
pay checks of up to $1,300 be-
fore taxes, depending on senior-
ity and hours worked.
Members soundly rejected
employer offers in May that left
employees who are classified as
part-time without health bene-
fits. The final agreement in-
creases wages further, but makes
little improvement to the part-
time health benefits, said TriMet
Lift driver Cathy Redwine, a li-
aison officer to the union Exec-
utive Board for the Washington
County unit. Part-time drivers,
who make up about half the
work force, will now be able to
get company-sponsored health
insurance through United
Healthcare if they pay half the
premium (about $325 a month),
but the plan carries a $6,600 de-
ductible, Redwine said.
Local 757 spokesperson An-
drew Riley says First Transit
may have improved its offer be-
cause of community support for
workers from disability activists
and from Portland Jobs with
Justice. Riders affiliated with the
groups Real Choice Initiative
and Disability Art and Culture
Project spoke out and took part
in a public demonstration in
support of drivers. And Portland
Jobs with Justice convened its
Workers’ Rights Board to look
at driver and rider complaints,
and issued a report finding that
drivers lack timely bathroom ac-
cess, and riders can experience
unacceptably long wait times.
[Read the report at https://
bit.ly/2AsLSc5]
Inefficient route planning by
TriMet LIFT can mean riders
and drivers are stuck in the ve-
hicles for hours, whereas a sim-
ilar service in Vancouver known
as CVAN gets riders to their
destination in 60 to 90 minutes,
Riley said.
Both of those issues remain
unresolved by the new contract.
Local 757 and First Transit
continue to bargain over a new
contract for the Clackamas
County unit. That group voted
to unionize in 2012, and ratified
its first union contract after a
one-day strike. That first con-
tract expired Aug. 31, 2017.