ATU vice presidential candidate Chris Day responds to his critics

I have been getting a lot of heat from members about the filing of Preferring of Charges and so I am putting this post up for those who actually are willing to listen and investigate the purpose of such a system.

Members have been seeing many comments with statements like “Preferring of Charges is Black Balling a member” or “It is member causing harm to another member”. A while back Jon Hunt and the officers at that time told the membership that Preferring of Charges will cost the membership too much money and is not a system we should use. Over time members have developed a very negative feeling about Preferring of Charges that if such a system is used the member attempting to use it tends to get attacked by members and blocked by officers. This is what our members are witnessing currently.

Nah, Trimet is not part of the police state

Funny how none of the enforcers are forced to take transit

Dirty water doesn't clean well

Expect Delays

MAX Green Line delayed due to mechanical issue. Expect up to 15 minute delays.

— TriMet (@trimet) May 6, 2015

Always something

Henry Beasley-knowing your rights

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

In the current Labor Press our paid representative printed a response to my video, that talked about the need for clarification of something that is told to new members to our Union during their first orientation (or first contact with our union or their first stint with a unionized job), that “they do not have representation until the end of probation.”

 In the current Labor Press our paid representative printed a response he had stated, “I would like to begin by welcoming all new members at all of our locations. We continue to see new hires across all locations. One thing that I continue to stress at new hire orientations is the fact that you are entitled to have a union officer present at any meeting you are called in for with management. You are also entitled to receive guidance from the union while on probation. Please remember that you can always come and talk with me or ANY union officer if you have any question pertaining to benefits, or the contract, or any questions at all. I would also like to encourage you to talk with your co-workers and union reps to educate yourself, with the union’s help, on what the union can do for you.”

Cameron Whitten incident

My opinion on this matter is that Mr Whitten over reacted to the water. The operator had the right to ask him not to bother him. Mr Whitten kept bugging him. Should Mr Witten have been given a citation?

NOPE!

But that's how they roll in this city.
I don't see how the race card is justified in this incident.
Sorry.

Sticks and Stones

 I've always enjoyed being called various nasty things. 
Over the years I have collected all kinds of insults.

Trimetized by "The Trimet"

Using public transit can be an emotionally exhausting endeavor. Twitter tells the stories of those who have been traumatized by "THE TRIMET".

Don't forget to check the Trimet Scanner feed.

THE BRIDGE!

"Gracefully arching cables mimic the slopes of Mt Hood" "Evoke the forested West Hills"

OH MY LORD 

Never ending barrage of pro bridge baloney

Trimet Facebook

Trimet allowed to keep its fascist policies

TriMet holds on to Class A offense for "interfering with public transit" charges 

 Despite strong criticism from public defenders and a legislative push for greater leniency, transit police will continue to be allowed to issue harsh “interfering with public transit” charges for minor offenses that, in most cases, have nothing to do with actual interference in the operation of public transit.

S Block vs B Hansen

There is some confusion  in these communications. My comments are in red. There are 2 factions that appear to be fighting for control of the union. Block/Hunt/Longoria and Hansen/Martin/unknown. I agree that Trimet does indeed want Hansen/Martin to win the upcoming election and will do whatever they can to make sure that happens. As all of us who watch Trimet know, Trimet usually gets what they want. 
How can I possibly (or any retiree) support Bruce after he allowed Trimet to lie to us about our retirement benefits? He's as guilty as Trimet in that regard.

I wonder if any of this information went beyond the Trimet twitter desk

ATU757 EXECUTIVE OFFICERS ARE SLOPPY

You have to be organized to run a union

One of the most important roles of our top 3 officers (President, Vice President and Secretary/Treasurer) is to pay attention to details. This is true for investigating and working with contracts. Along with paying attention to details it is just as important to convey accurate information to our members, International, community, public, media, government, employers and Department of Labor. If you are not able to do this as one of the top 3 officers in our local union then you should not be in that position.

When you have nothing on someone, attack their character

I am sick and tired of hearing about Jon Hunt's DUI. Some of us remember the days before the population was driven to hysteria over the stupidest of things. Hell I got a DUI in 1980 and my penalty was 30 days suspended and a $300 fine. Now you lose your license for a year and it costs citizens thousands of dollars. Citizens are too stupid to realize its just the government preying on them for money to support the 'war on drugs industrial complex'. So Jon had a DUI, or 2 DUI's or however many;

Who the F*K cares. What does that have to do with his abilities as a union representative. 

Absolutely nothing! And don't even try to convince me that people reading this blog haven't driven drunk at one time or another because I don't know anyone who hasn't.

I lived through the Jon Hunt administration and the Bruce Hansen administration.

Has Bruce even once actually raised his voice like Jon did?

NO!

Your grievance is closed-I don't need to tell you why

So a union member takes the time to file a grievance and the union president (Bruce Hansen) closes it and gives no reason? 

Doesn't a member deserve an explanation?

WTF?

Watch out for the white line

From Facebook: Apparently its against the law to ride on the white line a bus driver got pulled over last night because someone called police to say he was drunk so the cop finds bus then follows after a few mins pulls driver over does field tests driver passes so the cop gave him a ticket for riding the white line....are you f-ing kidding me.....

I was a pretty damn good bus driver in my day

In the 20 years doing this job I never once needed to call the cops, and at my 15 years at Trimet I had ZERO accidents, that includes non preventable accidents. And I was the poster boy for distracted driving while working at Trimet.

Block signup fails

If this is true it was a grassroots effort

That's the rumor anyway. 

Trimet is ending the 'block signups' after the summer signup is over. 

Congrats to all those that fought against the latest trimet tyranny. 

Cameron Whitten freaks out over water leak on the streetcar

Not sure what the hub bub is about

Whitten said he approached the streetcar operator three times about a leaky vent, and each time the driver responded with increasing hostility, telling Whitten to leave him alone. Eventually, he was asked to leave, and refused. He was taken off the streetcar by Portland police and given a citation for trespassing in the second degree.
Whitten is on the boards of both the Portland Bureau of Transportation and TriMet, and is a believer in making public transit accessible for everyone. Yet, he has sworn off the streetcar for life.

"I was told who I am is illegal, and trying to keep my community safe and being a whisteblower -- all these things are wrong and I should just shut up or be painted as a criminal," Whitten said Saturday afternoon.
Diane Dulken, a spokeswoman for the Portland Bureau of Transportation, said the agency could not confirm Whitten's version of events. She said the bureau is reviewing reports from the streetcar operator and the supervisor who showed up, as well as the call log from the streetcar. Officials also have an appointment to talk with Whitten next week.
Dulken said the bureau might have more information about the event early next week.

I can't remember the last time this happened

WES works!

The problem with transit is you can be stranded

Trimet operators suffer brutality at the hands of management

Apparently  a bus driver was robbed during his shift yesterday. Items stolen included his car keys. He asked to go home because his family was waiting to pick him up in a second car. What did Trimet officials do?
They sent him out on another run because they 'didn't have enough drivers'.

Several years ago Another driver was robbed during the shift and there was pictures of the robbery taken  by the on board camera. The company refused to let the driver see any of the pictures because they were 'scared' the driver may retaliate. Stolen in that robbery were drivers license and medical card. The driver asked for the next day off TDA but was told 'we can't do that for you'. An entire days pay lost as well as out of pocket expenses.

That is the Trimet you won't hear about anywhere else but here.

ATU/Trimet contract

 Here it is, the contract that surrendered all the hard won union gains and screwed retirees
 This 'contract' is expiring in 7 months.
While the front line employees get less the people in charge of the Trimet get more. We lose- they gain off our loss.  What a wonderful world