Little worried about the union all of a sudden deciding to talk to Trimet

I can tell you this much about that.
If this union leadership sells out us after all this then I am done forever with this union.
NO COMPROMISE! LET MCFARLANE CHANGE THE LAW OR WAIT FOR ARBITRATION!
No surrender now!
The following vicious propaganda has been used for years now. The career tax payer funded technocrats neglect to inform the public that the 'Cadillac benefits' ended with the last arbitration ruling. But these career technocrats have no use for facts, they have been lying about things for years now so they just keep on lying:\
TriMet no longer can afford the escalating costs of Cadillac health care benefits for union employees and retirees. We are facing nearly $1 billion in unfunded OPEB (Other Post-Employment Benefits) related to retiree health benefits that are the most generous in the nation. In order to restore financial stability and focus on our core mission of providing transit service, we must bring union benefits more in line with similar transit agencies or other Oregon public employers.

This week the ATU called to resume contract negotiations. TriMet looks forward to resuming negotiations and remains committed to having these bargaining sessions covered by the mainstream media so the public can be informed about the process. TriMet has offered 29 substantive proposals. There are a number of housekeeping proposals, such as correcting spelling and punctuation errors, and incorporating existing side agreements into the main body of the contract that do not change the wages, hours, benefits or working conditions of employees. TriMet will propose negotiation dates within the next week. TriMet provided its proposal to the ATU and to the public via www.trimet.org/newcontract on November 30, 2012.  The ATU has not yet provided its proposal.