This has been a long and hard fought road. The parties started meeting over a year and a half ago and have been deep in the trenches since. Legal battles, a pandemic, fires, and just about anything else you can imagine have tried and failed to stop us. It has been adversarial, it has been tiring, but at the end, the parties were both able to put our members and the public first and came to an agreement at 12:30 this morning.
Like all negotiations, there was give and take. But we think that every concession we made was with purpose and ultimately resulted in a big win for you. We are proud of the gains we got for each department and for the membership as a whole. We are proud of the foresight your officers had in looking to the future when making hard decisions. And we are extremely proud of the solidarity each department showed in fighting hard for the other. Together we fight; together we win!
Below is a list of notable changes. We are currently drafting a compilation of all TA’s and will get it out as soon as possible.
GENERAL
- Three year contract with wage increases in each year.
- Double the short term disability benefit until the new Oregon Family Leave Law goes into effect.
- Healthcare will remain status quo. Kaiser members will be reimbursed for the premium increases that were passed off to them last year.
- Changes to discipline language, including the addition of a sunset for warnings and reprimands.
ARTICLE II
- Changes to the Hours of Service and Extra Board rules that will benefit both parties.
- Vacation fixes for salaried employees (Art 1, Section 3, par k & Art 2, Section 2, par. 4).
- Significant increases to both bus and rail road reliefs including future annual increases.
- A five minute increase in prep time for operators.
- Expanded night differential to more classifications.
MAINTENANCE ARTICLES
- Agreed on a BOLI registered apprenticeship program for bus maintenance.
- Preserved training programs for REM and MOW classifications.
- Developed a new Training Tuition Payment Plan to preserve upward mobility and create new career pathways for all maintenance departments.
- Solidified hiring preferences for internal applicants.
- Significant increases to all training premiums in maintenance.
ARTICLE IX & SUPPLEMENTS
- Agreed to selective wage increases for eight maintenance classifications.
- Wage increases including retro pay of: 3%, 2.5%, and 2.25%.
- Improvements to Meal & Rest Break side letter
We want to thank each Executive Board Officer and Liaison Officer that participated in negotiations. It is no small feat to work your normal job, answer to your members, fulfill your duties as an officer, and work through bargaining. There is no question that your officers are dedicated to you and to getting you the benefits and working conditions that you deserve.
We also want to thank our staff and legal counsel. The work that is done behind the scenes is invaluable and often goes unnoticed. Though they may not be members or elected officials, they work hard for you and always go the extra mile because they truly care.
A very special thank you to ATU International and all of the folks they sent to help us make this final push. Undoubtedly, we would not be delivering this news if it were not for them.
And finally, thank you. Thank you for your patience, as we know this was a very long wait. Thank you for your support! We could not have made this happen without your signatures, phone calls, pictures, emails, and testimonies. And thank you for your trust. It is with great honor that we represent you at the bargaining table.
In Solidarity,
ATU 757 Leadership
No that’s not what happened after further study
ReplyDelete