Update on Operator Fatigue Policy Negotiations Between TriMet and Union
The
Union sent general manager Neil McFarlane a proposal for an interim
hours of service policy intended to prevent bus operator fatigue. It is
meant to cover the time between now and when the parties start
bargaining their contract and reach a successful conclusion.
On
Thursday, January 10, 2012 Randy Stedman, TriMet Executive Director of
Labor Relations sent a counter proposal to which the Union responded
today.
The
Union’s response focuses on the primary difference between the parties’
two proposals. The Union has proposed that a bus operator work day span
no more than 12 hours unless there is an emergency. TriMet’s proposal
is that operators can be scheduled to work 14 hours a day. The transit
workers’ union president, Bruce Hansen, says a 14-hour workday is too
long. “No human being, especially one transporting passengers through
city traffic, can safely operate a bus for over a 14-hour long work day,
day after day.” He notes that even the 12-hour work day span proposed
by the Union is too much but says “It’s an effort to meet TriMet
management half-way.”
The
Union’s proposal cites recent PSU studies which emphasize that the span
of the workday is the culprit when it comes to unsafe driving. In
summary, the studies found that a long workday span leads to stress and
fatigue which leads to absenteeism which leads to TriMet extra board
operators working too much overtime. The study also notes that the
chance of collision begins increasing in the 11th hour.
Referencing
the recent newspaper articles on extra board operator fatigue, Hansen
said, “The problem of excess hours worked by extra board operators would
not exist but for the extraordinarily long days worked by the hundreds
of other operators driving splits. Those long work days are unsafe for
the public and passengers. They are also unhealthy for the operators so
they are absent more.”
The
Union’s original proposal was previously distributed. TriMet’s
counterproposal and the Union’s response are attached. The PSU studies
are available by clicking on, or by cutting and pasting the following
link into your browser window:
Attached Documents: http://www.atu757.org/
1 comment:
Wha, no mention of 13 hours in uniform, does that count?????
HB
Post a Comment