"TriMet has repeatedly asked the ATU leadership to come to the table to negotiate excessive healthcare costs and other contract loopholes They have refused to do so." Actually the ATU has been open and willing to negotiate - as long as it was an open, transparent process. TriMet has consistently refused an open process. TriMet does not want the ATU to negotiate by addressing TriMet's own wasteful spending...TriMet ONLY wants to cut union benefits; without considering that TriMet could make several key cuts that would resolve this financial situation now and for many years - and it would involve cutting zero benefits and zero employees. TriMet refuses to address that. TriMet is lying, and as a government agency it should not engage in a war of words. It should stick to the facts. The facts are clear - TriMet's reckless spending on rail projects, revenue bonds, subsidizing non-TriMet functions, creating a "contingency fund" twice as large as last year's for no reason, and other miscellaneous spending needs to stop.
The contingency fund, is to lock out unionized workforce and bring in scabs from First Transit, that is why it has doubled in size, and not to cover the misterious shortfall.
ReplyDeleteHB
Really Henry? Care to divulge how you know that?
ReplyDeleteI thought First Transit's workforce in Portland were ATU members? Surely they wouldn't cross a picket line...?
ReplyDeleteJust think for a second, when someone is crying broke, yet they have up to 20million in a fund that has no designation other than "contingency", "what contingency", "labor!" Why are they down in Salem trying to get the law of arbritration overturned, "labor" issues. Do you remember way back in 2011 or 2012 when I called this out as a possibility on your blog?
ReplyDelete@Eric, lift is now ATU, but the parent company is First Transit, in case you didn't know about them, here is their mission statement:
Why Choose First Transit?
Our Specialized Transportation Solutions Deliver Cost Savings and Reliability.
Budgets are tightening and service demands are increasing. You need to provide your customers with the service they expect — but now you need to do it for less. Let us help. First Transit delivers the cost savings and efficiencies that you need while ensuring your passengers and your communities receive safe, and dependable service.
Our services include operations of fixed route, paratransit, shuttle services, ADA and NEMT brokerage, transit management and consulting services.
HB
And the way they drive up here, you can tell its profits over safety!
ReplyDeleteShould be a crime to spend public money on a public service via a private-for-profit company.