Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 7, 2020)
PAGE 2 | February 7 , 2020 | NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS ...TriMet wants to end apprenticeship From Page 1 (International Standard Serial Number 0894-444X) Established in 1900 in Portland, Oregon as a voice of the la- bor movement. Published on a semi-monthly basis on the first and third Fridays of each month by the Oregon Labor Press Publishing Co. Inc., a non-profit mutual benefit corpo- ration owned by 20 unions and councils including the Ore- gon AFL-CIO. Serving more than 120 union organizations in Oregon and Southwest Washington. Office location: 4275 NE Halsey St., Portland, Oregon Mailing address: P.O. Box 13150, Portland, OR 97213 Phone: (503) 288-3311 Web address: http://nwlaborpress.org Editor & Manager: Michael Gutwig Senior staff reporter: Don McIntosh Office manager: Jill Lukens Printed on recycled paper, using soy-based inks, by members of Teamsters Local 747-M. SUBSCRIPTIONS: Individual subscriptions are $15 a year for union members, $23 a year for all others. Pay by credit card online at nwlaborpress.org/subscribe, or send a check to our mailing address (above) along with your name, address and union affiliation, if any. Group rates of 47 cents an issue per member — $11.28 a year are available for 25 or more subscriptions; call 503-288-3311 for details. CORRECTIONS: See an error? Please let us know at editor@nwlaborpress.org or by phone at 503-288-3311. PERIODICALS POSTAGE PAID AT PORTLAND, OREGON. CHANGE OF ADDRESS: If you move, let us know at nwlaborpress.org/subscriber-services or by mail at our mailing address (above). Be sure to provide your old and new addresses and the name/number of your local union. Please allow three weeks for the change to take effect. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS P.O. BOX 13150 PORTLAND, OR 97213-0150 Low Prices! Coats, etc. Mon-Fri 9-6, Sat 9:30-5:30, Sun 12-6 PLEASE SHOW OUR ADVERTISERS YOU APPRECIATE THEIR SUPPORT FOR THIS LABOR MOVEMENT NEWSPAPER! tween a modern transit bus and an over-the-road truck,” retired TriMet bus mechanic David Kay told the TriMet Board at its Jan. 22 meeting. Mechanics say transit buses are the most abused vehicles on the road — 19-ton vehicles with specialized systems, on the road all day long, with constant stops and starts. Knowing every quirk helps TriMet’s trained mechanics keep those vehicles in operation. “Those journeyman always have some sort of trick,” says Gabe Binkley, a journeyman bus mechanic who went through the apprenticeship program after starting as a bus cleaner and fu- eler in 2012. “This is knowledge that’s passed down from one to the next. Which is why when mechanics come out of the ap- prenticeship, they already know a lot of the ins and outs and tend to be very successful. “But the outside hires, they don’t know those tricks, so they’ll spend eight hours look- ing at flickering lights wonder- ing what that is,” Binkley told the Labor Press. “I’m not trying to bash these guys because a lot of them are good mechanics, but I can’t tell you how many times I get buses where someone has TESTIFYING AT THE JANUARY 22 TRIMET BOARD MEETING “I’ve been chairing the JATC [Joint Ap- prenticeship Training Committee] for over 10 years. I saw it change the lives of people that came in.… people that had no clue on how to be mechanics were turned into technicians.” — TriMet light rail mechanic Joe Ruffin “I had ambitions to become a me- chanic. … eliminating the appren- ticeship program … actually removes our future. What that means is that service work looks like a dead end.” — Service worker Chris Tyson, TriMet Powell Garage misdiagnosed something, and I have to go back and look at what they did.” Binkley and his co-workers say because the apprenticeship program produces mechanics who know their equipment in- side and out, they’re able to di- agnose problems quicker and solve them without blindly swapping out parts. So why is TriMet pushing to end its apprenticeship pro- grams? TriMet spokesperson Roberta Altstadt summarized the agency’s official position in an email: “TriMet’s internal ap- prenticeship programs have not advanced in diversity, do not meet the agency’s demand for skilled labor, struggle to keep up with technological develop- ments, and are not cost-efficient. TriMet believes we can achieve better outcomes in diversity, productivity, use of internal re- sources, and sustainability if we can hire candidates externally that have the appropriate mini- mum qualifications.” Oregon Labor Commissioner Val Hoyle, who oversees state- certified apprenticeship pro- grams, took issue with some of that, and told the TriMet Board at its Dec. 11 meeting that its ap- prenticeship program is one of the most diverse in the state: Of TriMet’s current apprentices, 23% are people of color and 13% are women. After asking the Board to take the proposal off the table, Hoyle emailed her political campaign list and gathered a little over 1,000 Portland-area signa- tures on a “Don’t Eliminate Ap- prenticeships” petition. Currently, 55 employees are enrolled in TriMet’s apprentice- ship programs; if no new ap- prentices enter the program, the last LRV and diesel mechanic apprentices would graduate in late 2021. Ending the programs is a sub- ject of contract bargaining. If union and management can’t agree on the proposal to end the apprenticeship progam, the con- tract would be decided by an ar- bitrator. HOW TO HELP ATU is asking supporters to call TriMet chief Doug Kelsey at 503-962-4955 and tell him to retain TriMet’s state certified apprenticeship programs.
