JOB DRIVES BUS DRIVER TO SUICIDE!
AUSTIN, Texas — KVUE.com reported that an off-duty Capital Metro bus driver boarded a bus, then shot and killed himself in front of bus passengers Tuesday night. The driver pulled over and the passengers evacuated the bus. No one was else injured.
In a statement released on the incident, Capital Metro said the employee had been placed on suspension for disciplinary reasons earlier in the month. For the full story, click here.
Off-duty Cap Metro employee commits suicide on bus | kvue.com Austin
I keep saying it's all about "Public" vs. "Private". Before I go on, my heart goes out to the operators family, and all those effected by this, another incident of gun violence.
ReplyDeleteIf you don't believe TriMet BoD and it's management henchmen are out to bust the union, privatize the bus system, and do everything and anything to do it. Read these aditional stories.
Keep asking yourself why Neil McFarlane wants to repeal ORS 243.738 "No-Strike" law--why would this henchman want to let union workers go on strike? The answer is obvious, PRIVATIZATION.
http://www.busatx.org/node/235
In our case here Oregon Law protects the interests of public employee union members, and our rights to collectively bargain. Texas law does not. So, why privatize TriMet's buses? If we're one step farther removed from the protection of state labor laws it will become easier to break the union by unilateral action of the job killers, a la Scranton, PA.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/10/scranton-city-workers-minimum-wage_n_1661488.html
This is a two-pronged attack. On the first front, the Dist get's our NO-STRIKE law repealed, we strike, and the Dist uses it's $20M contingency fund to immediately hire CDL licensed scabs from all over the nation, fly them here, put them up in cheep hotels to break the strike and bust the union.
On the second front, the management henchmen convince it's holy anointed appointed Board of Directors to Privatize the Bus system, thereby giving the private profit pirate incentive to unilaterally slash wages, cut benefits, cut services, and raise fares, further dividing us from the passengers we serve. This becomes the downward spiral of union death because we are no longer protected under public employee labor laws. We could strike, saying ORS 243.738 doesn't apply to us under private contract, but in today's largely anti-union climate we would still lose to cheep scabs flown in on an evil wind. In the meantime, lawsuits, ULP complaints, and arbitrations will tie up our lives indefinately, and unfortunately lead some to despirate measures, as you see here in this post.
http://www.kxan.com/dpp/news/local/cap-metro-privatizing-bus-operators
ORS 243.738 PROTECTS US AND THE PEOPLE WE SERVE from the wedge issues that management uses against us. THAT'S WHY MCFARLANE WANTS IT OVERTURNED.
That's why WE THE PEOPLE have to CHANGE ORS 267 and LET THE PEOPLE ELECT OUR TRANSIT BOARD! Please sign and promote our petition to do that: (copy and paste the following link in your browser)
ReplyDeletehttp://www.change.org/en-AU/petitions/the-governor-of-or-change-ors267-let-the-people-elect-our-transit-board
Sorry for the shameless plug, Al--Had to do it. Any chance you could make the URL's in my piece hotlinks? Or am I doing something wrong?
WHY STARTRAN | Bus Riders Union of Austin, Texas | El Sindicato de Pasajeros
ReplyDeleteScranton, Pennsylvania City Workers Battle Mayor Over Minimum Wage Pay Cuts
ReplyDeleteCapMetro privatizing bus operators | KXAN.com
ReplyDeletePetition: The Governor of OR: CHANGE ORS267, LET THE PEOPLE ELECT OUR TRANSIT BOARD! | Change.org
ReplyDelete