TRIMET HISTORICAL ARTICLES

TRI-MET FILES UNFAIR LABOR PRACTICE CHARGE AGAINST UNION < DISAGREEMENT EXISTS ON WHETHER SECURITY IS BARGAINING ISSUE Newspaper October 29, 1988 Oregonian, The (Portland, OR) STAN FEDERMAN - of the Oregonian Staff Tri-Met filed an unfair labor practice charge against the union representing its employees Friday after the union obtained some 3,000 signatures on a petition urging the agency to hire additional transit policemen and take other actions to tighten security aboard buses and light-rail trains. James E. Cowen, Tri-Met general manager, said the issue was an intregal part of current negotiations and that both sides had agreed to a ``gag rule'' specifying that they would not discuss any bargaining issues in public. ``This kind of petition, which came out of a public demonstration, completely violates that pre-bargaining agreement,'' Cowen said. Cowen contended that union officials also were discussing the content and progress of the negotiations with the media and their own members, resulting in other violations of the agreement. The unfair labor practice charge was filed with the state Employment Relations Board, which since July has been monitoring bargaining between Tri-Met and Local 757 of the Amalgamated Transit Union. State mediation talks are scheduled to begin Nov. 7. Andrea Dobson, president of the union local, showed up earlier this week at a Tri-Met board meeting and presented the petition signatures to the board. Ron Heintzman, union business representative, said Friday that the union intended to continue discussing the security issue with union members and the public. ``We will not be intimidated by the agency,'' he said. Heintzman said the union ``has made it very clear from the beginning'' that it did not consider security and safety aboard Tri-Met vehicles to be a bargaining issue. ``Safety and security is the day-to-day responsibility of the transit district,'' Heintzman said. ``It is not something that's negotiable.'' He accused Cowen of being upset about the demonstration and petitioning that was conducted during an American Public Transit Association security workshop Oct. 20 and 21 at the Portland Hilton Hotel. Heintzman said Cowen was recently elected national chairman of the association and ``doesn't like the idea of a demonstration in his home town.'' Tri-Met has been plagued for the past two years with numerous assaults by passengers on drivers and upon other passengers. The agency claims the assaults average about nine a month, but the union contends the figure is much higher. In June, a week before adopting the agency's 1988-89 budget, the Tri-Met board agreed to spend $622,000 this fiscal year on a security improvement plan. The plan includes the hiring of extra transit policemen, better training and counseling of drivers to deal with security problems and improved coordination with the community in crime-fighting efforts. Tri-Met officials have said they will not hire the extra officers until a new labor agreement is reached. The agency intends to test the effectiveness of video surveillance aboard vehicles and will install surveillance outlets in three MAX stations along the Banfield Freeway. The agency also is in the process of installing an intercom system aboard MAX trains enabling passengers to communicate directly with the train operator. Copyright (c) 1988 Oregonian Publishing Co. https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info%3Asid/infoweb.newsbank.com&svc_dat=WORLDNEWS&req_dat=0D10F2CADB4B24C0&rft_val_format=info%3Aofi/fmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Actx&rft_dat=document_id%3Anews%252F0EB0852CD4D4B58A ============================================================================= 

 UNION'S EFFORT TO SUBPOENA GOVERNOR FAILS Newspaper December 15, 1988 Oregonian, The (Portland, OR) STAN FEDERMAN - of the Oregonian Staff A hearings officer for the state Employment Relations Board on Wednesday quashed an attempt by the Amalgamated Transit Union to have Gov. Neil Goldschmidt testify in the course of the union's attempt to force state troopers off duty on Tri-Met vehicles. The union had served Goldschmidt with a subpoena Monday upon his return from a trade mission to Japan. However, hearings officer Rudy Westerbar said the governor's testimony would not be needed. He quashed the subpoena after an all-day hearing on the union's charge of unfair labor practices against Tri-Met over the trooper issue. The union alleges that the monthlong use of troopers for additional security aboard Tri-Met buses and light-rail trains in Portland amounts to subcontracting work out in violation of Tri-Met's labor agreement with the union. In addition, the union claims, the use of troopers was arranged between Tri-Met officials and the governor without proper negotiations with the union. Should the board uphold the union's charges, it would mean an end to a seven-man trooper unit that Goldschmidt has assigned to patrol Tri-Met vehicles because of increased violent assaults and other criminal acts aboard them. F. Peter DeLuca, special labor relations counsel to the state attorney general, in his motion to kill the subpoena move, said any testimony the governor might give regarding the trooper assignment would repeat testimony provided by Tri-Met officials. At one point, an irate DeLuca accused union attorney David Paull of wanting to have the governor as a hearing witness ``so he (Paull) can have a chance to grandstand.'' DeLuca noted that the governor had been asked to appear Wednesday on less than 48 hours' notice, which he deemed ``unreasonable.'' Paull pointed out, however, that subpoenas are ``an inconvenience for any citizen,'' and he offered to take a court reporter to the governor's office in Salem to take his testimony. A Paull motion at this point for a postponement of the hearing until the governor could testify was denied by Westerban. Later in the hearing, Paull made it clear he wanted to ask Goldschmidt whose idea it was for the troopers to be assigned to Tri-Met vehicles. The union presented evidence that indicated that the troopers were being used for a period of six to eight months to allow Tri-Met and the Portland Police Bureau time to work out a long-term security arrangment. Under it, the agency would contract with the bureau for security needs. The goveror's personal counsel, Cory Streisinger, and two top Tri-Met officials -- General Manager James E. Cowen and Services Director Doug Capps -- testified that the decision to put state troopers aboard Tri-Met vehicles was made solely by Goldschmidt. ``Nobody in Tri-Met ever requested, suggested or arranged for the troopers,'' Cowen said. ``And we never discussed the collective bargaining agreement with the governor.'' The union's charges have come in the midst of contract negotiations between Tri-Met and the union's Local 757, which represents 1,300 agency drivers and mechanics. Early talks have bogged down in part over the agency's demand to be able to subcontract out a variety of services -- a demand the union has adamantly opposed. During the hearing, both Paull and Tri-Met attorney Rick Van Cleave jousted verbally over the contracting-out issue. Van Cleave pointed out that since the troopers were being paid by the Oregon State Police and not by Tri-Met, there was no contracting out involved. However, union leaders testified that Tri-Met's three transit policemen were being supervised by the OSP, had lost several of their work benefits and had their duties drastically changed in violation of the labor agreement. Copyright (c) 1988 Oregonian Publishing Co. https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info%3Asid/infoweb.newsbank.com&svc_dat=WORLDNEWS&req_dat=0D10F2CADB4B24C0&rft_val_format=info%3Aofi/fmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Actx&rft_dat=document_id%3Anews%252F0EB0853EE40D3472