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.