TriMet misconstrues facts about union

This was published as a letter to the editor at the TRIBUNE!


We note that the media frequently publishes erroneous statements like: “TriMet is pushing for ATU 757 members to pay more of their health care costs, which the union opposes.”
This is an untrue statement that puts the union in a false light. The union does not oppose the idea of its members paying more of their health care costs. The union recently published the following statement in a number of community newspapers: “... we understand that we are going to have to shoulder more of the health care burden created by our jobs.” We further noted that numerous studies have established that transit operators become disabled and die younger than people working in most other professions and that is the major reason for the higher cost of our health insurance.
There are some other facts that should be recognized. The first is that no one, including TriMet, has seen a health care proposal from the union.
Second, the union members of the TriMet work force are currently paying more for health care than nonunion employees at the agency. TriMet has repeatedly acknowledged this fact in its internal public relations statements.
Finally, the union does not have a health care proposal at this time. We do not yet have a health care proposal for one simple reason. We cannot get the information needed to formulate such a proposal. The union has been struggling to obtain accurate and consistent health care cost information from TriMet. It takes months for them to respond to our requests and then, when they do respond, the documents are incomplete.
Moreover, those documents often contain information that seriously conflicts with TriMet’s public statements, testimony and actuarial reports about the cost of health care. Obviously, until we get complete and accurate information the union cannot formulate a response to TriMet’s health care proposal, let alone develop one of its own on the issue.
We realize that labor negotiations are a complicated subject. We hope in the future, however, that the union itself will be consulted about its bargaining positions rather than folks relying on what TriMet’s public relations department claims is the union’s position. In the meantime, we want you to know that we appreciate the effort your newspaper is making to keep the community informed about transit issues.
Bruce Hansen
President, ATU 757