NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS | December 21, 2018 | PAGE 21
First Transit named 2019 Scrooge of the Year
Bus and paratransit contractor
First Transit has been named
2018 Scrooge of the Year by the
nonprofit Portland Jobs with Jus-
tice. The award, determined by
participants at the group’s annual
holiday fundraiser, goes to an in-
dividual or entity that was par-
ticularly hard-hearted to work-
ers. Participating unions nomi-
nate candidates for Scrooge of
the Year, and each attendee at the
fundraiser gets 20 votes, plus
one vote for each additional dol-
lar donated to the workers’ rights
group. The Dec. 8 event raised
just under $6,000 for Portland
Jobs with Justice.
Was First Transit the most
villainous of the nominees?
Maybe, or maybe its principal
detractors were simply the most
generous in support for Portland
Jobs with Justice. Drivers union
Amalgamated Transit Union
Local 757 both gave generously
and rallied fundraiser attendees
to cast their votes.
First Transit won because of
its alleged chronic heartlessness
in failing to provide meal and
bathroom breaks to drivers who
operate TriMet Lift vehicles for
disabled passengers. First Tran-
THE OTHER NOMINEES
Daimler Trucks of North America
Daimler is a union employer, but it
contracts out janitorial and security services
to non-union firms. Janitors and guards
have spoken out about low wages, lack of
affordable medical insurance, and other
issues for over a year. Daimler has refused to
meet with janitors who are trying to form a
union.
MultiFamily NW This landlord lobby
group has been the leader in the fight
against renters’ rights here in Oregon.
Oregonians for Immigration Reform
Oregon’s most prominent anti-immigrant
group was instrumental in overturning a
drivers card law in 2014, and made a failed
attempt in 2018 to repeal a 1987 state law
that bars state and local law enforcement
agencies from apprehending people
SOLELY on suspicion that they may have
violated federal immigration law.
From left: Andrew Riley and Cheri Hall of ATU Local 757 joined Jobs with Justice staff members Justin Norton-Kertson,
Will Layng and A.J. Mendoza to present the 2018 Scrooge of the Year Award.
sit is contracted by TriMet to
provide the service, but it sched-
ules rides in such a way that
drivers have no way to take
breaks while transporting med-
ically fragile clients who can’t
be left unattended. Because of
that, some drivers have resorted
to wearing adult diapers.
First Transit employee Cheri
Hall, driver for TriMet Lift Re-
gion 3 (Clackamas) says the
company has also stubbornly re-
sisted setting the same condi-
tions for each of its three Port-
land-area bargaining units:
Says Hall: “We do the same
work. We put in the same house.
So why not give us all the same
benefits?”
Phil Knight – Within the footwear
industry, this billionaire Nike founder led
the way in offshoring production to
overseas sweatshops. This year he tried to
buy the outcome of an election with $3.5
million in contributions to Republican
governor candidate Knute Buehler.
Freedom Foundation – Backed by a
web of billionaire-funded foundations, this
organization uses mail, email, work site
visits and house calls to try to get public
employees to drop out of their unions.