http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ndsgk5Z61Cw
Monday, February 27, 2012
BEST COMMENT FROM EDITORIAL BOARD HACK JOB
Great, just what we need is another "board" to tell us what is wrong
with TriMet, oh sorry, what's wrong with the horrible Union Employees
who want decent pay for a hard days work. The people that actually make
"TriMet Roll" every day. The ones that are up at 3am to get the buses
and trains ready for first pull out of the day. The people who are up
all night working on the buses, trains, overhead wires, track
maintenance, while management eat dinner, having a night cap and off to
dream land. The employees that saved TriMet millions of dollars working
on "PIP" (Productivity Improvement Process), to streamline processes
and make TriMet more efficient. Oh, what happened to the money that was
saved by PIP? We were all praised by management for all of our hard work
and input towards making TriMet a better place for everyone. Had Neil
McFarlane come to the table with something that was at least "not
laughable" I'm sure the union would have been open to dialogue. Across
this great country working people are being told to take one for the
team, while corporate earnings are the highest they have ever been.
Neil's opinion on who he considers "critical" people to hire are
different than mine. Without the people that get their hands dirty, have
limited bathroom breaks, shear fingers off while truing a train wheel,
inhale chemicals, work with 750 volts of electricity that can kill you
in an instant, get spit on, cussed at, these are the "critical" workers
in my opinion. It is back breaking and emotionally draining work and the
workers deserve every penny they earn.
End stranglehold on TriMet | OregonLive.com
End stranglehold on TriMet | OregonLive.com
IT TAKES 20 BUS DRIVERS TO EQUAL 1 FRED HANSEN
The pension that Fred is raking in could fund the pensions for 20 FULL TIME BUS OPERATORS for 10 YEARS OF SERVICE
7 BUSES STUCK
Erik Halstead @sp_redelectric
Come on #trimet you have SEVEN BUSES stuck on 99W and no alert for it?? That is UNACCEPTABLE!! Start doing ur job, that's seven buses!!!
Come on #trimet you have SEVEN BUSES stuck on 99W and no alert for it?? That is UNACCEPTABLE!! Start doing ur job, that's seven buses!!!
BUS ATTACKED
Pdx Bus Driver @PdxBusDriver
Line 87 bus had an object thrown through windshield at 181 and glisan big hole in window
Line 87 bus had an object thrown through windshield at 181 and glisan big hole in window
CAN'T FIRE TRANSIT EXECUTIVES WITHOUT PAYING THEM BIG TIME
They sure as hell don't need a union, unreal.
Firing TTC's Gary Webster could cost Toronto $500,000 in severance | Posted Toronto | National Post
Firing TTC's Gary Webster could cost Toronto $500,000 in severance | Posted Toronto | National Post
HERE THEY GO AGAIN-THE BOREGONIAN EDITORIAL BOARD
Last week, TriMet's mild-mannered (looks are very deceiving) general manager, Neil McFarlane, attempted to grab this region by its collar.
In a speech of extraordinary power (malice is more the word) and candor, McFarlane warned that TriMet is "slowly strangling from a union contract that desperately needs a reset."
End stranglehold on TriMet | OregonLive.com
In a speech of extraordinary power (malice is more the word) and candor, McFarlane warned that TriMet is "slowly strangling from a union contract that desperately needs a reset."
End stranglehold on TriMet | OregonLive.com
DR JEFF SOLVES THE BUDGET CRISIS!
In Which I Solve The Budget Crisis, Repeatedly
Last week, I wrote about the fact that TriMet was trying to divide us into separate rider groups.
There are choice riders, says TriMet, and there are transit-dependent
riders. I went into some detail about how these are arbitrary
categories. I thought that maybe we should all just bond over the fact
that we are riders. Then it hit me… instead of nit-picking at this
little crap why not just do what really needs to be done? Why not SOLVE
THE BUDGET CRISIS?
Ambitious? Sure. Impossible? Hell yes. But this is just a stupid little blog post, so bear with me, skeptics. Throw aside your jaded hipster transit geekery and come with me on a magical ride into the imagination. Come with me to the land of balanced TriMet budgets, where lemonade flows in the streets and your transfer is made of solid gold.
There have been a number of proposals on the table, as you’ve seen. TriMet has even invented a little budget balancing game. It has become clear that TriMet brass would like to simply have the union pay for all of their own benefits, and Neil McFarlane has proposed that union members perform minor surgeries on each other, with instruments that will be provided by the company. Bypassing expensive hospital care and going to one of your fellow transit operators for appendectomy or simply heart valve replacement seems like a no-brainer, and would save approximately 278 dollars after the increase in death benefits is factored in. So, cool story, bro, but not workable in the world of MY budget ax.
Ambitious? Sure. Impossible? Hell yes. But this is just a stupid little blog post, so bear with me, skeptics. Throw aside your jaded hipster transit geekery and come with me on a magical ride into the imagination. Come with me to the land of balanced TriMet budgets, where lemonade flows in the streets and your transfer is made of solid gold.
There have been a number of proposals on the table, as you’ve seen. TriMet has even invented a little budget balancing game. It has become clear that TriMet brass would like to simply have the union pay for all of their own benefits, and Neil McFarlane has proposed that union members perform minor surgeries on each other, with instruments that will be provided by the company. Bypassing expensive hospital care and going to one of your fellow transit operators for appendectomy or simply heart valve replacement seems like a no-brainer, and would save approximately 278 dollars after the increase in death benefits is factored in. So, cool story, bro, but not workable in the world of MY budget ax.
Then there is the CHAMPION of CHAMPIONS!
SP Red Electric
McFarlane is flat out being dishonest with the public and is pitting people against people to suit his own personal agenda. His background is in building light rail lines and other mega-projects like the Convention Center; he has ZERO experience in actual day-to-day operations of anything, and right now he's protecting his babies (specifically WES and MAX but also the Portland Streetcar) - and willing to sacrifice anything to get his way.
Never mind that TriMet consistently refuses to address many of my 24 specific ways TriMet could cut its budget.
Never mind that TriMet need make only TWO CUTS to balance its budget (before the recent ruling against TriMet for negotiating in bad faith) - cut WES, and cut the Portland Streetcar subsidy.
McFarlane is flat out being dishonest with the public and is pitting people against people to suit his own personal agenda. His background is in building light rail lines and other mega-projects like the Convention Center; he has ZERO experience in actual day-to-day operations of anything, and right now he's protecting his babies (specifically WES and MAX but also the Portland Streetcar) - and willing to sacrifice anything to get his way.
Never mind that TriMet consistently refuses to address many of my 24 specific ways TriMet could cut its budget.
Never mind that TriMet need make only TWO CUTS to balance its budget (before the recent ruling against TriMet for negotiating in bad faith) - cut WES, and cut the Portland Streetcar subsidy.
One of my favorite anti Neil Oregonian quotes
Where I have concerns is in the number of managers needed:
Seven Executive Directors: "Legal Services", "Capital Projects", "Operations Administration", "Communications & Technology Administration", "Government Affairs", and two "Finance Administration" Executive Directors. All but one of these positions could be eliminated, and even that one "Operations Administration" could be merged with the General Manager's duties if he'd spend less time on the speaking circuit, less time on an airplane, and more time dealing with the transit system he's supposed to be running. That would save a million in unnecessary labor.
Or the 13 "Director II"s, the 17 "Director I"s, the 63 "Manager II"s or the 12 "Manager I"s. Or the 9 "Analysts", the 9 "Landscape Maintenance Mechanics", the 6 "Accountants" AND the 5 "Financial Analysts", the 3 "Database Administrators", the 3 "Business Systems Analysts", the 3 "PC Specialists", the 14 "Programmer Systems Analysts", and the 14 "Software Systems Engineers". The 3 "Graphics Designers". 7 "General Counsel" and 4 "Litigation Specialists". 3 "Executive Secretaries".
Seven Executive Directors: "Legal Services", "Capital Projects", "Operations Administration", "Communications & Technology Administration", "Government Affairs", and two "Finance Administration" Executive Directors. All but one of these positions could be eliminated, and even that one "Operations Administration" could be merged with the General Manager's duties if he'd spend less time on the speaking circuit, less time on an airplane, and more time dealing with the transit system he's supposed to be running. That would save a million in unnecessary labor.
Or the 13 "Director II"s, the 17 "Director I"s, the 63 "Manager II"s or the 12 "Manager I"s. Or the 9 "Analysts", the 9 "Landscape Maintenance Mechanics", the 6 "Accountants" AND the 5 "Financial Analysts", the 3 "Database Administrators", the 3 "Business Systems Analysts", the 3 "PC Specialists", the 14 "Programmer Systems Analysts", and the 14 "Software Systems Engineers". The 3 "Graphics Designers". 7 "General Counsel" and 4 "Litigation Specialists". 3 "Executive Secretaries".
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