Contract time at Trimet. Post by Neal Berlin

FYI: Only a few days left for contract suggestions. Here's a suggestion about the road relief and the lack of pay according to the law.


The following types of travel time will be allowed:

(a) When employees, in beginning their day's work, are required to go from their reporting location to begin their assignment at some distant point;
(b) When employees are required to go from a point where they end one assignment to another point to begin another assignment;
(c) When employees are required to go from a point where they end their day's assignment to their reporting location at the end of their day's work. This includes travel between the storage point of vehicles and the Internal Division office when employees are required to report to the Internal Division office or when the employees are required to park the vehicle at a location other than the usual storage point.
In all cases, the employees will begin and end their day's work at the same location designated as their reporting location, provided, that in no case shall travel time be allowed in excess of swing time.
Travel time will be computed on the basis of scheduled running time by surface and/or rail by the most direct route, between the two points plus one- half of the scheduled headway at the initial point and at each transfer point.
Where operators complete their assignments and are required to travel to a Division office to tum in, there will be included in the travel time the time required to walk to the Division office from the last vehicle on which they travel.
(d) Employees shall not receive travel time when required to report for full day training in lieu of performing any part of his regular assignment, at either the regular work location or an alternate training site, provided adequate parking, at no cost to the employee, is made available.

This will replace article 2, paragraph 2 (Allowances), section g, subsections 2.

Currently, the district is in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act: the purpose of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) is to set a federally mandated minimum wage and maximum hours for a work week. It also provides standards regarding overtime pay, pay equality, record-keeping and child labor. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the FLSA was introduced in 1938. If you are in-service you are to be compensated for the work done on behalf of the employer.

My response to Mr.Henry B: Yea, where was ATU757 when Al Margulies filled his class action lawsuit to correct some of the inequities this situation on his own?  Not to be found on the front line, not even behind the line of the battle just in their usual safe non-confrontational safe area,the lunch room.  As I recall with my conversations with Al, only about 400 operators signed on to the class action,the rest ,well maybe they where to busy eating lunch.  In the end, after many years of litigation,Al and his attorneys settled, with TriMet admitting no wrongdoing and all operators who got a check could not file a new suit on the issues covered in the settlement.  The most interesting thing I noticed when the settlement checks went out to ALL operators, rail&bus,the words that echoed in the bullpens, it was not enough!   Yea, most of the operators who complained about the size of their compensation where the ones who did not sign on to the class action!  The lack of action by the Union and many its members leave a bitter taste in my memories as well as Al.  The point is that TriMet won on many fronts, for very little money, under $1.5 million ( of taxpayers money) they can continue what is definitely unfair compensation for ones time.  Most important cut off future lawsuits.  This avenue of relief of wrongdoing, class action has been curtailed by two recent US Supreme Court decisions that make it very difficult to file a class action suits.  I guess the rank & file will have to trust ATU 757 has the skills to negotiate change.  I would not bet on that.