Governor Kitzhaber
160 State Capitol
900 Court Street
Salem, Oregon 97301-4047
Contact John Kitzhaber
Below are three of the letters that were sent in as a sample
To the Honorable Govenor Kitzhaper,
I am writing you today to request that you use your influence with the
Trimet board of directors. Trimet’s managers are sending it in a
direction of failure and they refuse to listen to employees concerns.
Here is what I as a Maintenance employee at light rail with 25 years at
Trimet would like to see happen.
Replace all the top managers at the agency. Trimets current focus is
only on building new lines and construction while the actual Service to
the community and maintenance of assets is of little concern to them.
Trimet was not created to be a land development company. It’s main focus
should be on providing essential transportation to the community.
Current management has lost this vision. Neil Mcfarlane in particular
with his background in Capital projects has no interest in running the
agency to provide a service, it is only to keep the dollars rolling in
to perpetuate the budget shell game.
Settle the union contract. One
of Trimets biggest assets is its Operating, Clerical and Maintenance
bargaining unit front line employees. The foot dragging, lies and
oversight of the media disinformation campaign by Trimet’s general
manager is unethical and despicable behavior. This alone should
disqualify Mr. Mcfarlane for employment in his current position. While
it is understood that Management and the union will be at odds on how to
achieve a goal, the ability to negotiate with the union has to be a
critical component of the next general managers resume.
Use your
influence in expediting the employment relations board decisions in
regards to the ongoing Trimet labor dispute. This would be extremely
helpful in helping rebuild the agencies morale. This process has gone on
way to long and needs to be unbiased, but much less cumbersome.
Place someone from the labor community on the Trimet board. Trimet’s
employees need a voice on our board of directors. I do not feel that the
current board has an objective view of organized labor or knowledge of
what is needed to effectively operate an agency with as large a
workforce as Trimet has that is governed by a collective bargaining
agreement.
In the 25 years I have been at Trimet as a Bus
operator, Bus mechanic, Light rail signal maintainer and 6 years as an
Executive Board Officer for the Union I have never seen conditions be as
bad as they currently are. If we continue on this path Trimet will fail
and not only will the employees suffer but also the community we serve.
-----------------------------------------
Governor Kitzhaber;
I voted for you because I thought you supported organized labor and decent wages and benefits for Oregon Citizens.
Imagine my surprise when you took Lyn Lerbach off the Trimet board of directors!
He was the only pro union director.
Now we have Mr. McFarlane intentionally breaking laws and disregarding
procedures in his attempt to paint the union employees as the enemy of
the riders.
Many of us were so hopeful that you might bring some
sanity to the Trimet board of directors which in turn would move the
management back to sanity.
Right now I regret that I ever voted for you again
---------------------------------------------------
To Governor John Kitzhaber
My name is , I am writing you this letter to express my concerns about my job at TriMet.
First, I've been working as a bus driver for close to 17 years and have
seen a lot of changes within this company. In 1995, TriMet was an
awesome company to work for. They were fair and always willing to work
with the people who work for them. Now, they seem to be only thinking
about themselves.
For instance, the GM is making more money
then you, Mr. Kitzhaber, and at retirement he will be making around 15k a
month with a track record of running a good company into the ground.
That doesn't sound right to me or to others working below the GM. I am
also concerned about our contract. TriMet is unwilling to negotiate for a
new contract that is fair.
Our transit system is broken and
only one person can do something to make it work again. That person is
you Mr. Kitzhaber. The people on the board of Directors where appointed
by you to govern our system. They are doing it all wrong. Can you please
help us and the people of this state?
I thank you for taking the time to read this.
A comment about these letters, especially the first listed.
ReplyDeleteI have worked at both union and non-union jobs. The work environment at TMet today is the most toxic I have encountered in my 30 year career and I blame both the TMet exec. staff and the ATU staff. The TMet past and present staff has built a system they cannot afford to maintain properly, signed contracts they cannnot fully honor, and set themselves up to leave like ENRON Execs.
The past and present ATU staff has not all, but mostly been made up of good ol' boy club, outright thieves, out for their own interests first, and for the good of the union brotherhood secondary types who demand contracts that shelter those in the workplace who contribute nothing but negativity.
What we have now is a house of cards failure in the works system that the people "depend on" and "pay for" with their hard earned money. The people expect, demand, and deserve better for their investment.
There are a huge number of TMet staff and union employees that want to do an honest days work for an honest days pay/decent benefits but the TMet staff and employee ranks today have too many who have allowed themselves to be turned inside out, cold, careless, could give a **** types, who only show up to take, take, take.......like it is their right.
I am ashamed to be associated with some people I work "with and for" at TMet.
I know "the people" do not have never ending deep pockets to put up with this BS forever. They are the ones really getting screwed.
Replace all top managers at the agency but ALSO replace the ATU local in order to restore some sanity to this relationship!