Janu

ary

2010

The President’s Report

by President, Paul J. Bachtel

January Labor History

Page 3

orCa Pros and Cons

Page 4

bad suPervisory PraCtiCe— suPervisors CaLLing oPerators

Page 5

Letters to tHe editor

Page 6

CoPe 101 for dummies PerHaPs?

Page 7

ProPosaL to CHange byLaws

Page 8

transit onLy Lanes on i-5

Page 8

view from tHe buses

Page 12

Visit online: www.atu587.com VOL. XXXIII, NO. 1

Negotiations Update

continued on page 12

Local 587 represents employees at six different transit provid-ers in King, Jefferson and

Clallam counties including:King County Metro — Providing

fixed route public transit service in King County

Seattle Personal Transit — Provid-ing Access transit service in King County

First Transit — Providing Access dispatch and scheduling service in King County

Jefferson Transit — Providing fixed route and Access transit service in Jefferson County

Clallam Transit Service — Pro-viding fixed route public transit service in Clallam County

Clallam Paratransit Services — Providing Access transit service in Clallam County

Currently, Local 587 is preparing to negotiate, or is actively negotiat-ing, labor agreements or Memo-randums of Agreements (MOAs) at five out of six of our represented properties. Below is a brief negotia-tions update.

King County MetroContract negotiations for 2010

– 2013 are in the beginning stages. The Union Research Committee (Clint De Voss, Jeff Stambaugh and Kermit Gipson Jr.) met and began its work by requesting and receiving King County Metro (KCM) financial documents. Core and sub-committee assignments were scheduled to be agreed upon at the December 29, 2009, Executive Board meeting. The Union Office will be soliciting membership volunteers to serve on Union sub-committees for each division.. I will send out a bulletin board posting seeking volunteers this month.

First TransitNegotiations with First Transit

(FT) continued for a third day on December 10. Agreements were reached on many non-economic sections of the tentative agreement. The Union presented its economic proposals and FT should respond in kind at out next meetings sched-

uled on February 1 – 3, 2010. This is the first contract with FT, thus all language is being written from scratch. It may take some time to reach a tentative agreement. I ask for patience from our FT members.

Seattle Personal TransitOur membership at Seattle Per-

sonal Transit (SPT) approved a new three-year agreement last October. One issue left open was the one-year trial MOA modifying Collision, Incident and Attendance protocols in exchange for a twice annual $50 incentive. The MOA will have ex-pired on December 31, 2009. SPT proposed revising and continuing the MOA without the $50 incentive and dramatically increasing atten-dance discipline. The Union chose not to accept the SPT proposal and will revert to the Collision, Incident and Attendance protocols in place prior to the MOA. As I stated in my election campaign and in recent News Review articles, I will not sign any MOA without first bringing the

January 2010

2

Business of the Membership

At the December cycle of mem-bership meetings, the following business was addressed:

The membership voted to support a motion by Bruce Tiebout to require reports for the News Review by all attending conferences at Union expense.

The membership voted to sup-port a motion to approving the ap-pointment of Casey Rudd as Shop Steward at CTS

The Month at a Glance

Tentative Agenda

CHARTER MEETING Thursday, January 7, 20098:00 p.m.The Labor Temple, Hall #82800 1st Ave., Seattle, WA

MORNING MEETING Friday, January 8, 200910:30 a.m.The Labor Temple, Hall #62800 1st Ave., Seattle, WA

JEFFERSON TRANSITMonday, January 11, 20097:00 p.m. Port Townsend Rec CenterPort Townsend, WA

CLALLAM TRANSITTuesday, January 12, 20097:00 p.m.Vern Burton Memorial BuildingPort Angeles, WA

Membership Meetings:

Among Topics to be Discussed: • Grievance and arbitration update

Negotiations at First Transit, Clallam Transit, Clallam Paratransit • and upcoming at KC Metro

Unfinished Business: None

Executive Board Report

December 29, 2009

All officers were present except Patrick Stevens, Dan Thorne, Neal Safrin, Ray Campbell and Ray Mason who were sick, on vacation and working the Full-Time Opera-tor pick.

Motion by Michael Shea: To overturn the standing motion to provide $1000 annually to Jobs With Justice.

Motion by Ninus Hopkins: That ATU Local 587 provide $1000 for a King County Paratransit holiday party in December 2010.

Motion by Michael Shea: That the ATU Local 587 Executive Board se-lect the five full-time officers and one officer from each section, as chosen by the president, as our negotiations committee.

Motion by Paul Neil: To adopt the Union detail pay standards as presented to the board.

Motion by Paul Neil: To adjust the dues to $57.36 as required by the bylaws.

Motion by Paul Neil: To set the grievance/arbitration assessment at $35.06.

Please notify the union office of any member’s passing so that this information may be shared with the rest of our union family.

This month, we are delighted to announce

that all of us, working or retired followed

the advice of W. Sumerset Maugham:

Death… my advice to you is to have

nothing whatsoever to do with it.

In Loving Memory…

Published monthly in Seattle.

Official publication of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 587, AFL-CIO, representing employees of Metro/King County, Clallam Transit, Jefferson Transit, Seattle Personal Transit, and Clallam Paratransit.

2815 Second Avenue, Suite 230Seattle, Washington 98121Telephone: 206-448-8588.

Affiliations: Washington State Labor Council, King County Labor Council, Northwest Joint Con-ference Board, ATU Legislative Council, Olympic

Labor Council.

Letters to the editorLetters/contributions must include printed names, signatures, work ID numbers, addresses and phone numbers that can be verified during working hours. Letters that cannot be validated will not be published. All articles/letters are subject to editing and should be limited to 1000 words or less. Not all letters can be published due to space limitations. Cut off is the 15th of each month. Any submission from a member of Local 587 to the News Review deemed unprintable by the Recording Secretary shall be forwarded to the Executive Board for final decision to publish.

Send letters to:

Brian Sherlock, Editorc/o ATU Local 587 News Review 2815 Second Avenue, Suite 230Seattle, WA 98121

weingarten rigHts statementI request to have a union representative present on my behalf dur-

ing this meeting because I believe it may lead to disciplinary action taken against me. If I am denied my right to have a union representative present, I will refuse to answer accusational questions and any I believe

may lead to discipline.

PAUL J. BAchTEL Pres/Business Agent email – president.bachtel@atu587.com

J. RIcK SEPOLEN 1st Vice President/Assistant Business Agent / email – vpjricksepolen@atu587.com

DON MacADAM 2nd Vice President/ Assistant Business Agent, Maintenance

email – vpdonmacadam@atu587.com PAUL B. NEIL Financial Secretary email – pneilfinsec@atu587.comBRIAN ShERLOcK Recording Secretary/ Editor 587 News Review email – Brian.Sherlock@atu587.com

OFFIcERS OF ThE AMALGAMATED TRANSIT UNION, LOcAL 587:

Web site: http://www.atu587.com

Minority Affairs Office RAy CAMPBELLVehicle Maintenance Position #1 KERMIT C. GIPSON JR.Vehicle Maintenance Position #2 PATRICK STEVENSVehicle Maintenance Position #3 CLINT DE VOSSFacilities Maintenance DAN THORNESupervisors MICHAEL SHEASpecial Classifications ERIC BUTLERKing County Units Outside KCM NINUS HOPKINSTransit Operator Position #1 NEAL SAFRINTransit Operator Position #2 MICHAEL MOORETransit Operator Position #3 DEE WAKENIGHTTransit Operator Position #4 LISA NAULTTransit Operator Position #5 ANDREW JEROMSKyTransit Operator Position #6 RANDy STEVENSON Transit Operator Position #7 LINDA ANDERSONTransit Operator Position #8 RAy MASONClallam / Jefferson County LUDWIG BECKER

TRANSIT WORKERS ENDORSE

LEGISLATORS WHO VOTE

PRO TRANSIT

Proud To Be ATU180,000 Strong

January 2010

3

A r b i t r a t i o n U p d a t eJohn Ross:1. Grieved improper benefits calculation at Seattle Personal Transit. $500 to John and SPT now calculating member benefits expense and member holidays based on 58% rather than 50% for Part-time Driver working 20 hours per week.

Antonio hernandez:2. Grieved miss assignment of overtime. Reconsidered.

Alan Freeman: G3. rieved termi-nation for alleged gross miscon-duct. Decision Pending.

George Williams:4. Grieved Metro’s failure to abide by layoff recall language in unilaterally imposing furlough days. Arbi-trator’s decision Pending.

Daniel Linville:5. Grieved Metro’s failure to implement the System Extra Board pursuant to the 2007 bargaining agree-ment. Arbitrator’s decision Pending.

Jeff Stambaugh:6. Grieved outsourcing of work historically and traditionally preformed by bargaining unit members.

Scheduled February 11 and 12

Nick Malkow:7. Grieved Metro’s failure to assign overtime properly in Base operations. Scheduled March 17, 2010.

Lise McShane:8. Grieved a letter in her file. Schedule Pending

Lise McShane:9. Grieved Metro failing to follow the overtime assignment sequence. Schedule Pending

Dean Borders:10. Grieved ter-mination for accident/alleged policy violation. Schedule Pending

Nick caraway:11. Grieved 2 day suspension for alleged serious infraction. Settlement Reached

James Jones:12. Grieved a change in the VM vacation pick process. Schedule Pend-ing.

James Gayden: 13. Grieved improper non-disciplinary medical termination. Sched-ule Pending

January Labor Historyby Bill Clifford

1 January

1863—Emancipation Proclama-tion

3 January

1917—Tom Mooney trial for San Francisco Preparedness Day bomb-ing

5 January

1869—US: First Negro Labor Con-vention held.

1914—US: Ford Motor Company raises its basic wage from $2.40 for a nine-hour day to $5 for an eight-hour day.

1964—England: First automatic ticket barrier on the London Under-ground:

1970—US: Joseph A. yablonski, unsuccessful reform candidate to unseat “Tough Tony” Boyle as Presi-dent of the United Mine Workers, murdered, along with his wife & daughter, in their Clarksville, Penn-sylvania home by assassins acting on Boyle’s orders. Boyle was later convicted of the killing. West Virginia miners went on strike the following day in protest.

6 January

1916—US: Strike at the youngstown Sheet & Tube plant declared by the 8,000 workers.

Tomorrow the strikers’ wives & other members of their families join

in protest outside the factories. Com-pany guards employ tear gas bombs & fire into the crowd; three strikers are killed & 25 others wounded.

1937—The Abraham Lincoln Brigade forms to fight fascism in the Spanish Civil War. Part of the Inter-national Brigade, it fights valiantly on the Aragon front & in defense of Madrid.

“No man ever entered the earth more honorably than those who died in Spain.”

— Ernest Hemingway

Some 4,000 American men & wom-en fight for the Loyalists. Nearly 2,000 of them die of wounds or disease. One of the casualties is Oliver Law, an Af-rican American commanding the Tom Mooney Machine-Gun Company & later the entire Lincoln Battalion. Law is the first black man known to command white U.S. troops. Poet Langston Hughes wrote, “before that time, the leading ambassadors of the Negro people in Europe were jazz-band musicians, concert artists, dancers or other performers. But these Negroes in Spain were fighters — voluntary fight-ers — which is where history turned another page.”

7 January

1939—US: Tom Mooney, a labor ac-tivist wrongly convicted of murder in the San Francisco Preparedness Day bombing in July 1916, is freed after 22 1/2 years in jail on false charges, granted an unconditional pardon by Governor Culbert Olson.

8 January

1864—US: Mary Kenney O’Sullivan (1864-1943), first American Federa-tion of Labor (AFL) woman organizer, born, Hannibal, Missouri. A skilled bookbinder, she organized the Woman’s Bookbinder Union in 1880 & a founder of the National Women’s Trade Union League (WTUL) in 1903.

11 January

1912—US: Beginning of the IWW-organized (Industrial Workers of the World) “Bread & Roses” textile strike of 32,000 women & children at Lawrence, Massachusetts. The first to walk out were a group of Polish women who, upon collecting their pay, exclaimed that they had been cheated & promptly abandoned their looms.

The Lawrence Textile Strike of 1912 lasts 10 weeks & includes 32,000 tex-tile workers, most of them unskilled, foreign-born, & many women. It begins after the legislature cuts maximum working hours for women & children from 56 to 54 hours per week, & the employers cut their pay along with the hours. The workers called in the IWW for help.

The name “Bread & Roses” comes from the title of a poem written by James Oppenheim in 1912 about a textile strike in Lawrence, Mas-sachusetts. Ten thousand women & children marched against brutal working conditions, long hours & insufficient wages. The strike also inspired a massive “pageant” to publicize the strike, since newspapers like the Ny Times refused to report on it, or simply sided with the owners against these ungrateful nasty strik-ers, many of whom were ignorant immigrants.

As we go marching, marching, we battle too for men,

For they are women’s children, & we mother them again.

Our lives shall not be sweated from birth until life closes;

Hearts starve as well as bodies; give us bread, but give us roses.

12 January

1893—Independent Labor Party founded in England

1936—US: Autoworkers sit-in at General Motors plant in Flint, Michigan.

13 January

1794—México: Tobacco workers demonstrate for improved condi-tions, México City.

1914—US: IWW [Industrial Work-ers of the World] organizer Joe Hill arrested for murder, Utah.

1942—US: Bruno Walter says he cannot conduct the non-unionized Boston Symphony.

14 January

1941—US: A. Philip Randolph, president of the Brotherhood of Sleep-ing Car Porters & chief spokesperson for the African American working class, calls for a March on Washing-ton, demanding racial integration of the military & equal access to defense-industry jobs.

15 January

1902—Washington State Federa-tion of Labor founded

1962—Collective Bargaining for Federal employees

2010—Full Moon: Be careful out there.

20 January

1934—Germany: Nazis abolish collective bargaining & union elec-tions.

1946—US: 750,000 US steel work-ers strike.

24 January

1888—77 miners die in Wellington, BC, Mine #5

25 January

1888 - Sheet Metal Workers founded

1890—United Mine Workers founded

2001—First World Social Forum convenes in Porto Alegre, Brazil, as an alternative to the World Trade Organization for the global justice movement. In 2010 the US Social Forum will meet in Detroit June 22-26. 12,000 activists met in Atlanta in 2007 for the first USSF.

26 January

1903—Garment Workers Local 17 founded in Seattle

27 January

1932 First Unemployment Com-pensation law, Wisconsin

29 January

1912—US: During the Bread & Roses Strike in Lawrence, Massa-chusetts, police kill Anna LoPizzo. Nineteen witnesses see an officer named Benoit fire the fatal shot, but strike leaders Joseph Ettor & Arturo Giovannitti, three miles away at the time, are arrested & held for eight months as accessories. The city will declare martial law & bring in 22 extra militia companies.

31 January

1912—Australia: A general strike begins in Brisbane, Qld. (until March 6). It follows the suspension of tram-way workers for wearing union badges.

January 2010

4

With the January roll out of the new transfer policy, drivers and passengers

alike may be in for some unfortu-nate surprises. If a passenger pays their fare with cash, and then takes another agencies bus, or wants to ride the train, they will need to pay full fare again. Metro transfers will only be accepted on Metro coaches. Conversely transfers from other agencies will not be accepted on Metro. Drivers will likely be exposed to angry confrontations over this new policy, so be prepared.

The Orca Card ProgramIn 2003 an agreement was made

to create a ‘smart card’ for use be-tween Sound Transit, KC Metro, CT, Everett, Pierce and Kitsap Transit and the Washington State Ferries. A $43 million contract was awarded to ERG Transit Systems to be the vendor of the project. Originally anticipated to be operational in 2006, the ORCA card is now entering that phase. The ORCA card can be used on the following public transporta-tion services:

Bus Community Transit, Everett

Transit, King County Metro Transit, Kitsap Transit, Pierce Transit, Sound Transit

FerryWashington State Ferries, Kitsap

Transit, King County Water Taxi Train/RailSound Transit ParatransitContact your local transit agency

for information on Para transit services.

VanpoolContact your local transit agency

for information on vanpool ser-vices.

The ORCA card eliminates inter-system transfer media and consolidates them all into one card. Transfers are handled electronically. Riders who purchase their own monthly transit pass are being converted to ORCA automatically. The majority of pass holders receive their transit passes from their em-ployers, and those customers will be converted as annual contracts come up for renewal. Customers will have the option to register their cards, which allows them to restore their card value if it is lost or stolen. Registered cardholders can select an “Autoload” feature that can add value to a card when their E-purse is drawn down or when their monthly pass expires.

As part of a special promotion, the cards are free until February 1, 2010. After that date the card will cost $5.00, presumably to cover the cost of the passive transponder built into the ORCA card. The card contains built-in intelligence that processes and stores information and contains a small internal antenna that com-municates with the card reader.

PRIVACY CONCERNS AND THE THREAT

OF PASSIVE TRANSPONDERS

By its very nature, the ORCA card allows your movements to be tracked. The passive transponder in the card is known as an RFID or Radio Frequency Identifier. RFIDs are becoming commonplace world-wide. The information stored on the Orca card even automatically converts youth cards to adult cards when cardholders turn 19. I am not the only one concerned about the invasion of privacy this represents. The data that can be acquired from ORCA card use is just the latest threat in an emerging culture of surveillance.

A major international privacy report published recently (http://www.privacyinternational.org/survey/phr2004) has concluded that gov-ernments across the world have substantially increased surveillance in the past year. It warns that threats to personal privacy have reached a level that is dangerous to fundamen-tal human rights, and identifies a trend across the world toward mass surveillance of the general popula-tion, citing a catalogue of illegal spying and surveillance activities by government agencies. The report says: “The government is pressing to allow for public bodies to be able to share more information and the creation of “electronic life records” and a comprehensive “population register.” “There is also a poor cul-ture of security for the protection of personal information. Personal information from government com-puters is regularly disclosed inad-vertently or for profit.

Among the trends identified in the report:

• Increased video surveillance• DNA and health information

databases• Censorship measures• Radio frequency identification

technologies (ORCA Card)• New electronic voting tech-

nologies• Mismanagement of personal

data and major data leaksInvasions of privacy were met

in various countries with force-ful reactions from human rights groups. In Germany, outcry against a retail chain’s use of RFID tags unbeknownst to its customers led to the halt of the company’s proj-ects. In Greece, the data protection authority struck down the use of biometric identity verification in airports because the collection of personal information through RFID tags exceeded its purpose. In Malaysia, the Bar Council criticized the security and privacy risks of Mykad, the multi-purpose smart card, which forced the government to work on a legislation to answer such concerns.

One of the commonest uses of RFIDs involves tracking the move-ments of consumers. Consider the

following patent application is from IBM:

“Previous purchase records of persons who shop at a store are col-lected by POS terminals and stored in a transaction database. When a person carrying or wearing items having RFID tags enters the store or other designated area, a RFID tag scanner scans the RFID tags on that person and reads the RFID tag information [to] determine the exact identity of the person... Then, as that person moves around the store, different RFID tag scanners located throughout the store can pick up radio signals from the RFID tags...and the movement of that person is tracked based on these detections.”

- I B M p a t e n t a p p l i c a t i o n 20020165758 “Tracking and Iden-tification of persons using RFID-tagged items”

On the same patent application IBM suggests tracking people in other public spaces: “In addition to stores, RFID tracking can be applied to other locations having roaming areas, such as shopping malls, airports, train stations, bus stations, elevators, trains, airplanes, restrooms, sports arenas, libraries, theaters, museums, etc.”

This technology is now in use by the Sorensen Associates PathTracker. According to their website:

“PathTracker is the latest analyti-cal system designed to capture the in-store movement of thousands of shoppers. This information is then integrated with sales data, providing a clear roadmap to maximize sales per customer …In 2001 we began

tracking shoppers from the cart corral to the checkout line, by tag-ging their carts (and baskets) with RFID tags, Of course, this use of the cart’s location as a surrogate of the shoppers’ location can’t be precisely correct at all times… any time a pur-chase was of a product that didn’t lay on the path of the cart, it was because the shopper had wandered from the cart to purchase it. This was the beginning of PathTracker®, tracking the paths of shoppers. This allowed us to know exactly where the shopper was at all times, how fast they were walking, when they slowed or stopped, for how long, in front of what products, if they purchased, etc. The result was the creation of the most robust suite of shopper data, along with an analyti-cal system to examine it.”

Here is a partial list of Path-Tracker’s clients: Albertson’s, Safe-way, PCC Natural, Whole Foods, 7-11 stores, Arco AM/PM, Circle K, Exxon, Texaco food marts, The Home Depot, Lowes, True Value Hardware, Rite Aid, Walgreen’s, Wal-Mart, K-Mart discount stores, Sam’s Club, Target, Best Buy, Com-pUSA, Office Depot, Office Max, Staples and the list goes on.

The following is a very chilling portion of the PathTracker strategy, taken directly from their website:

“Visually tracking shoppers on a second by second basis typically involves at most a few thousand shoppers, but the analysis now benefits from a large base of ear-lier studies providing great insight into smaller samples. Our shopper

Orca Pros and ConsBy Andrew A. Jeromsky, Executive Board Officer

continued on page 5

Board Officer Jeromsky has requested that the membership be informed that his article was submitted prior to the local press expressing concern about privacy issues resulting form the ORCA cards.

Once again, Vehicle Main-tenance management has reached a new low in their

inability to manage sick leave use. Without regard for employee work history or health issues, they issued ‘notice of sick leave abuse’ letters to our members based simply on hours taken. Employees with huge accrual balances are being characterized as abusers simply because they used their sick leave accruals above an arbitrary level.

This one subject has caused maintenance relations with Metro to sour more than normal. To hold us accountable to an arbitrary policy that no one is aware of is absurd. Some of the alleged abusers have more than 1,000 hours of sick leave. Some have had doctor appointments that were approved ahead of time still used against them. While Metro says “Stay home if you have the flu,” they stab you in the back and say you

are an abuser because your sick time happened to run into your normal days off (40% of work days are next to weekends!). And shame on you who had to take time off because of cancer treatments.

Why is it this only happens in Vehicle Maintenance and not in the other sections within King County Metro? Perhaps a number of abus-ers with balances showing that they have reliably shown up for work for decades should attend the next King County Council meeting, in uniform, and see if our elected rep-resentatives or the press can answer this perplexing question: Why is there no accountability for what is really managerial abuse of the sick leave policy?

BOB Mac Adam2nd VP, and…The Irregulars

This Makes Me SickI need to take a day off and attend a

King County Council meeting!By VP Mac Adam

January 2010

5

During the morning rush hour on December 15, I was headed north on Third. As

I approached Pike I was in the left lane as there was a car in the right lane taking a turn. The car directly in front of me crossed Pike and, unexpectedly and without signal-ing, pulled into the bus zone. I was already across the crosswalk when this occurred and I had no choice but to follow in behind him which left about a quarter of my artic' across Pike. I was hoping the driver in front of me would realize he was in a bus zone and vacate the space I needed to pull forward. He didn't. In fact, he stayed in the zone and moved forward a bus-length at a time and was still there when I departed.

Before I had reached the light at Stewart the coordinator called and told me that a supervisor wanted to speak to me. In a nasal, admonishing tone usually reserved for a defiant child, she recounted the incident in detail and finished by saying that it didn't matter that the car in question wasn't supposed to be there at that hour and had commit-ted ticketable lane-change and bus zone offenses, it was still my fault. I tried to respond but the supervisor

in question, whom I do not know, came back even more sanctimonious than before: “Apparently you did not hear me the first time...”

Let us indulge the absurd for the moment and assume that the super-visor was right in this case. Let us allow for argument's sake that there are no circumstances which a driver may find him- or herself stranded on the crosswalk through no fault of his or her own. Let us even stipulate that I somehow should have been able to anticipate what the car in front of me was going to do, that I should have been able to read his mind; even so, what benefit is there to anyone to immediately call and berate the driver over the phone? This practice of aggressively con-fronting the driver while he or she is still at the wheel is counterproduc-tive, extraordinarily hypocritical on Metro's part, and dangerous.

Firstly, our jobs are stressful enough, we don't need this abuse. Metro's supervisory personnel should act in a supportive way, at least while a driver is on the road. They should diffuse problems, not exacerbate them. Whenever job-performance issues arise they should be discussed privately with the drivers, and after

they come off the road. When drivers are at the wheel, supervisors should be allies, not critics.

Secondly, it is unjust to criticize drivers over the phone and then not allow them to defend themselves. It is degrading to broach the topic of misconduct in a forum where the ac-cused has no chance to respond. The entire conversation should be held in the chief's office or not at all.

Thirdly, of late we have been informed by Metro of the draconian punishments that will befall us if we are caught using cell phones while we are driving. [First offense decapita-tion, second dismissal, something like that, wasn't it?] It is too danger-ous, we are told. I agree, but isn't it the height of hypocrisy for Metro to say that all cell phone transmissions, even important ones, are unaccept-able because of the hazard they pose, while they pursue a policy of calling drivers over the phone just to tell them the last ten feet of their coach was hanging over the crosswalk. They call you even in such frivolous cases as this. Why is it dangerous for a driver to talk to a family member on the phone while driving but not for Metro to call us unnecessarily with potentially vexing criticism? Seems to

be a double standard here, eh Metro? Which is it?

Lastly, as many drivers have complained to me, it is, or can be, very aggravating to receive these humiliating calls. They antagonize, and this is not the proper state of mind to be driving a bus. I tried to relax after this incident but the injus-tice of it, the casual condescension, the bureaucratic indifference, the unwarranted provocation, and the enervating stupidity of this practice kept me angry for 30 or 40 minutes after the call. I hope and believe that it didn't affect my driving but it was a struggle that didn't have to be. I've worked for Metro for years now and it is the best job I've ever had. Largely, we are treated very well and it is much appreciated. And I'm sure the supervisor in question is a terrific person, she was just fol-lowing policy, wretched though it is. But on this day Metro really pissed me off. These dangerous calls from supervisors have got to stop. It's a matter of simple human decency, and, more importantly, of the safety of all concerned. Let's do something about it.

SincerelyDave Fryett, CB 12375

Bad Supervisory PracticeThe offensive policy of supervisors calling operators immediately

after a perceived driving infraction has got to go.By Dave Fryett

research is founded on the paths of shoppers, and the statistics about the “shopping crowd” But we are now moving well beyond the physi-cal path and shopper behavior that can be learned from that path (the first dimension,) to the path traced by their eyes in the store, both in terms of their exact point of focus and their total field of vision (the second dimension,) and more re-cently wedding the foot and eye to the brain (the third dimension,) with biometrics of brain-waves, galvanic skin response, etc. All three dimensions of the shopper are the simultaneous focus of our advanced HyperEyeCam.”

See the PathTracker for your self:http://www.tns-sorensen.com/path-

trackervideo.htmlNow why would a company want

to track its consumers? One reason is to try and compel you to spend your money the way the store wants you to by driving away low profit consumers. Werner Reinartz and V. Kumar in the Harvard Business Review call these “unattractive” cus-tomers barnacles. “These customers are the most problematic. They do not generate satisfactory returns on investments…like barnacles on the hull of a cargo ship, they only create additional drag.”

In other words, if you’re a savvy consumer, the store doesn’t want you. It wants compliant customers it can persuade to buy its products. To force away un-cooperative customers, or to help condition them through negative re-enforcement, corporations rely on information management strategies

like “maximization.” Maximiza-tion “means marginal service and high prices designed to drive the unattractive customer somewhere else…” Corporations employ the extensive information learned from the data they are acquiring and from other studies regarding human be-havior modification. By providing poor service when you don’t “shop well”and positive service when you do, corporations will try to change you into what they want you to be, obedient.

Corporate PR strategies have been recommended to prevent a public backlash. They are, ”Pacify Consumers, Convey the inevitabil-ity of RFID and Rely on Consumer apathy.”

WHERE ARE WE HEADED?

The House of Lords Committee said in a recent report, “The devel-opment of electronic surveillance and the collection and processing of personal information have become pervasive, routine and almost taken for granted.” It has become com-monplace to call Britain a “surveil-lance society,” a place where security cameras lurk at every corner, giant databases keep track of intimate personal details and the government has extraordinary powers to intrude into citizens’ lives. A report in 2007 by the lobbying group Privacy International placed Britain in the bottom five countries for its record on privacy and surveillance, on a par with Singapore.

h t t p : / / w w w . p r i v a c y

i n t e r n a t i o n a l . o r g / a r t i c l e .shtml?cmd[347]=x-347-559597

Is it OK to trust our Corporations? Are they benevolent? Profit driven cultures are not consumer friendly. Corporate greed is what started the current economic recession.

What if someone becomes a threat to the corporate status quo? It is easier to remove a problem if you know the behaviors and intimate details of someone’s life. Am I being paranoid? Tell Karen Silkwood.

Can Government officials be trusted? President Nixon had an enemies list. During the McCarthy era, people’s lives were destroyed. What use could the Nazi party have made of the personal information data banks currently being compiled on each one of us?

Data is being collected on all of us. This emerging situation is even worse than George Orwell’s ficti-tious Big Brother. In the recent past, critical thinking was much more independent of popular culture. Nowadays, personal autonomy is being manipulated by subtle, and some not so subtle persuasions to benefit business and who knows whom else.

Is it far fetched to consider that ORCA travel information might be kept in a database? Passengers have reported to me that when they replace defective cards, Customer Service can tell them the exact date it was last working properly. The information is being stored. Why does the ORCA card keep the date you were born? So it can sing Happy Birthday!?

I don’t want my life to be moni-tored by computer software, but for better or for worse, ORCA is help-ing to do just that. Cardholders are unwittingly carrying around their own personal antennas/RFIDs that can identify and track their move-ments around the region. Who can promise that someone or some group won’t hack the frequency or set up monitoring stations, or just access the data outright. Manipulation of the masses is not a secret. It has been attempted and used for centuries with varying results. The techniques are becoming increasingly sophisti-cated. “The more that I know about you, the more I can control you, preferably without your even know-ing it.”Keep thinking critically, and fight the good fight everyone.

See more for yourself:http://www.scribd.com/

doc/12935430/Technological-Threats-RFID-Presentation-Washington-State

http://www.privacyinternational.org/survey/phr2004

http://www.privacy-international.org/article.shtml?cmd[347]=x-347-559597

http://blogs.tnsglobal.com/.a/6a00e54f02f9498834011571c9b080970b-pi

http://blogs.tnsglobal.com/retail_shopper/2009/06/the-three-faces-of-pathtracker-.html

Here’s a website where you can purchase your own RFIDs:

http://rfidusa.com/superstore/prod uct_info.php?products_id=93

In Solidarity,Andrew A. Jeromsky Executive Board Officer

Orca Pros and Cons, continued

January 2010

6

notiCe to aLL readers

Views and opinions expressed in

News Review articles are those

of the authors and not necessarily the official position of

Local 587

Letters/contributions must include print-ed names, signatures, work ID numbers, addresses and phone numbers that can be verified during working hours. Letters that cannot be validated will not be published. All articles/letters are subject to editing and should be limited to 1000 words or less. Not all letters can be published due to space limitations. Cut off is the 15th of each month. Any submission from a member of Local 587 to the News Review deemed unprintable by the Recording Secretary shall be forwarded to the Execu-tive Board for final decision to publish. Send letters to:

Brian SherlockNews Review Editor

c/o ATU Local 587 2815 Second Avenue, Suite 230

Seattle, WA 98121

send in your oPinions

Letters to the Editor…A Reply from Santa

Letter to the Editor,

It was great to read Tracey Davis’ December Letter to the Editor “Santa Lives at Metro” about some of the wonderful people who work here. When I read about her daughter telling her, “It’s the bear you found on your bus after the fires. The one someone left on the pedals for me”, I chuckled thinking, “that sounds like something I’d pull.” As I read further and thought about it later, fond memories slowly returned.

I remembered (albeit not in chronological order) talking to Base Chief Suzanne Keyport (who not only donated but organized the do-nating) about the family’s plight. I remembered the fun of slyly copying the spelling of Clarissa. I remem-bered the fun of researching Tracey’s work assignment. I remembered the hardest part was choosing the right teddy bear at Toys R Us (the previous Christmas, I donated two shopping carts filled with teddy bears at the same store so I knew they’d have what I needed). The teddy bear had to be cute and huggable, but not so large that it couldn’t be hidden in a shopping bag. I remembered how easy it was to: find Tracey’s coach assignment, sneak down with the shopping bag, and place the teddy bear and card for Clarissa . . . without being seen.

I’m glad that something that was so much fun for me meant so much to someone else. I hope the many others who donated had as much fun.

Metro Santa

Yes, VirginiaIn the December 2009 News Re-

view, Andrew Jeromsky voiced two objections to the “yes, Virginia, there is no god” bus ads. One objection was to the image of Santa Claus be-ing used to entice children to read the message, and the other that King County Metro was allowing an ad making a theological statement.

Santa Claus has never been just

for kids. Over the past century, his image has been used to sell Chester-field, Pall Mall, Lucky Strike, Philip Morris, and Camel cigarettes, Prince Albert Smoking Tobacco, White Rock Sparkling Water, International Trucks, Richfield Oil and other adult products. In fact, one vintage ad shows Santa seated at a table with a glass, a bottle of White Rock, and a bottle of whiskey.

The phrase, “yes, Virginia, there is no god” is simply a very effective attention-grabbing takeoff on the 1897 New York Sun editorial answer-ing a child’s question about Santa’s existence. One sentence from that editorial has become immortal: “yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.”

Our buses have lately advertised local churches, traveling evange-lists, even a “hugging saint,” each of whom, I presume, has some theo-logical statement to make.

These messages, whether or not you or I consider them misleading, deceptive or invasive, are legal. We live in America, where the Bill of Rights allows you to publicize your viewpoint and allows me to publicly and peacefully disagree with you, while neither of us fears government interference.

Teach your kids to be as skeptical of all advertising as you are. Explain to them that it is only opinion and propaganda, bought and paid for. Without advertising, how would we know that we simply cannot properly interface without the fan-ciest new mobile device, that our formerly low-tech bus ride will be the experience dreams are made of once we clutch our own high-tech Orca card, or that our children will love us, idolize us, and get straight A's forever as soon as they see the slave-built Zhu Zhu hamster so lov-ingly wrapped and placed under the tree for them?

May the spirit of Santa keep you warm and cozy through the new year.

Dick Ellingson#20502

Atlantic Base

Metro HeadrestsFellow Operators,

I’m concerned about the growing number of Central Base coaches with marginally or non-functional driver’s seat headrests. These head-

rests appear to be cheap and/or incorrect replacements for original headrests that a) do not have any fore/aft adjustment and b) do not correctly fit the seat attachment interface and so also do not have compensatory height adjustment. It’s apparent that the forward-leaning angle of these headrests is too great for most drivers, as many headrests are being reversed so that they face backwards. However, this reversal results in several inches of space between the headrest surface and driver’s head, which will ne-gate the protective function of the headrest in the event of a collision. The adverse result of these new headrests to drivers is neck strain from having the head forced into an unergonomic head position or risk of grievous spinal injury in the event of a collision.

The coach maintenance folks who install these headrests must be aware of their poor quality and marginal functionality, but are perhaps continuing to install them anyway in an effort to save money on a bad or incorrect parts purchase. However, obviously it’s the drivers who are paying the price.

Headrests are required in mo-tor vehicles by federal law, and marginally functional headrests in commercial vehicles put employ-ees at risk of injury. I would like to recommend that drivers and the Union create a paper trail on the affected coaches and any injuries caused by these headrests, either RSI or collision-related. This paper trail could be used to prove that the Company knowingly installed marginally functional headrests which put employees at risk and may make it possible to collect dam-ages in compensation for related employee injury.

Advocating internally for re-placement headrests that are of the same quality as the original headrests via Service Orders and the Safety Committee(s) is also an option, but I suspect that change via that route would be slow in coming, if at all, and all the while drivers will continue to be at risk for injury. We know money talks.

In solidarity,Ann Ziegler, #21204

Central Base

MOVING???You have ten days to notify

Washington State Department of Licensing of change of address.It’s recommended you maintain

a copy of such notification.

January 2-3 & 9-10 . . . . . . . . Part-Time Pick

January 4-8 &11-15 . . . . . . . . Full-Time Pick

January 4 . . . . . . . . All Members Meeting for Clallam Paratransit

January 7 . . . . . . . Charter Meeting

January 8 . . . . . . . . Morning Meeting

January 11 . . . . . . . Jefferson Transit Authority Meeting

January 12 . . . . . . . Clallam County meeting

January 26 . . . . . . . Executive Board Meeting

January 29 . . . . . . . Deadline for KC Operator Shop Steward Nominations

Upcoming at Local 587

January 2010

7

transit workers, supported suc-cessful ballot initiatives to increase transit funding in Martin Luther King County, California, Minnesota and numerous other cities and states across the U.S.

Whether you are a political action

novice or an expert, all of us could benefit from a more detailed account of PACs and how they work, but in the meantime let’s work together and help the politically challenged. We’ll talk more, later.

People of ATU Local 587 un-derstand the importance of a strong Political Action Com-

mittee or Campaign (PAC) for the most part. As it stands, our COPE program leads the nation in member contributions and participation. Its unparalleled work places our Lo-cal’s PAC in the forefront each year for exceptional work; educating, in-forming and motivating its members. However, not often, but every once-in-a-while there are some who just can’t comprehend “How it Works.”

Although the number of inept is far and few between, there seem to be those who are hung-up with the con-cept of how these resources are used. They’re usually the ones who want to dictate and demand how COPE should use its funds but never contribute to the cause, failing to realize that COPE finances are raised (not collected) separate from their union dues. This has been explained over the years to the member-ship in various ways; word of mouth, hand-outs, and news articles to name a few. These contributions are made voluntary through pay-roll check-off or directly by check.

As the largest tran-sit worker PAC in the United States, the Amal-gamated Transit Union Committee on Political Education (ATU-COPE) is the voice of transit workers, school bus employees and over-the-road bus workers at all levels of government ( and oh…did I mention 587 in the forefront?). ATU-COPE contributes to pro-labor, pro-transit candidates for local, state and federal office regardless of party affiliation.

As transit employees, our jobs, wages, and working conditions are directly attached to politics. Federal, state and local government officials make critical decisions daily to determine the amount of funding to our transit system, safety and security, and our bargaining rights, which has a direct impact on us and our families.

Our power lies in our numbers and as more members join this effort our voice grows louder and political muscle gets larger. We are the loud-est voice and the most effective of public transportation workers at all levels of government. So let’s go over this once again, shall we?

ATU members and their • families may only solicit for COPE contributions.

Only VOLUNTARY contribu-• tions may be accepted.

Our Local may suggest a • minimum contribution but does not require a minimum amount.

All COPE contributions are • remitted to the International office.

Our Local will disclose • COPE’s political purpose to the contributor.

No one may contribute more • than $5000 in a calendar year.

COPE funds are used for • contributions to candidates and expenditure for legislative purposes.

Under no circumstances will • COPE contributions comingle with the Local’s general treasury accounts.

your COPE has been exemplary on the political front and continues build momentum with its lobbying

and election efforts, bringing recognition and respect to the ATU-Local 587 membership through supporting friends of Labor and forcing changes to the opposition’s agenda, resulting in more in-clusiveness of our membership through various appointments on all levels of govern-ment local, regional, state and federal. Our profession and work-ing conditions are reli-ant on local, state and federal funding.

It is fundamental for our union to be proac-tive in the progress of our profession and working conditions and COPE is an impos-ing means of doing just that. At this very moment our PAC is

working to:

Provide record increases in • federal transit funds and expand the availability of federal and state operating assistance for transit systems.

Combat efforts to make it easier • to privatize transit jobs and weaken our collective bargaining rights.

Improve security measures in • America’s transit, school bus and over-the-road bus systems.

Preserve and expand worker • health and safety laws that protect transit, school bus and over-the-road bus employees on the job.

Defeat state and local initia-• tives that seek to limit the amount of funding available for public transportation.

Support initiatives requiring • transit labor representatives on state and local transportation boards and commissions.

your COPE funds preserved transit worker collective bargain-ing and job rights with approved federal highway and transit legis-lation, secured federal funding for maintenance training program for

COPE 101 for Dummies Perhaps?

By Ray Mason

Let’s Talk TransitYou are invited to join your Union Brothers and Sisters forATU COPE Lobby Day, February 8, 2010

We’re going to have a great time, as well as lobby about important transit union issues. Box lunches, games and prizes, and orientation are included.

Leaving Central Base at 8:30am, we’ll ride a bus to Olympia to meet with our Washington State Legislators, and be back to the base at about 4:30pm.

Please register via US Mail or Metro in house mail using the form below. If you need to take time off to attend, put your name in the Lay Off Book

at your work site. Unpaid courtesy detail can be arranged for a limited number of participants who are not guaranteed to get the day off. See you at Lobby Day!

Please fill out completely—we need your home address and contact information!

NAME _____________________________________________________________________________________

E-MAIL ____________________________________________________________________________________HOME ADDRESS (WHERE YOU’RE REGISTERED TO VOTE—NO P.O. BOXES)

STREET ____________________________________________________________________________________

CITy ______________________________________ZIP ____________ LEG. DIST. (if you know it) ________

METRO ID# ________________________________ WORKSITE _____________________________________

PHONE __________________________________CELL PHONE _____________________________________

Send this Form To:ATU COPE Lobby Day, 2815 Second Ave, Suite 230, Seattle, WA 98121

Save the date, Monday, Febru-ary 8, 2010. you will have the opportunity to make a differ-

ence in the future of transit, and your jobs. ATU 587s Committee on Political Education (COPE) invites all 587 members to come to Olympia, meet our State Legislators, and have fun doing it.

We need to protect our jobs. Every one of us is worried about transit’s budget problems. We know that cuts to transit are not the answer: we need a stable source of transit funding! The public is starting to realize that sales tax alone is too volatile to guarantee that transit will keep moving. Now it’s time to make sure the Legislature acts to provide funding to this issue and other transit related issues.

This is the year for all of us in 587 to pull together and turn this crisis into an opportunity. Come on the bus with the COPE committee. The committee makes it fun, with games,

prizes, coffee and snacks on the bus. When we arrive, we’ll learn about the bills the Legislators are voting on, go over the issues we want to lobby on, and team up together to visit Legislators one-on-one.

If you would like to come, we would love to have you! Snacks and lunches are provided. Please put your name in the lay-off book so that you can be available to volunteer on February 8th from 8:30 to 4:30. Fill out the Lobby Day Sign-Up Form in this News Review and send it in to the union office via inter-office mail or via U.S. Mail. Please fill out the form completely, and don’t forget your email, if you have one, and especially your home address so we can look up your legislative district. If you have questions, please contact Judy young, COPE Chair. you may email Judy at jjeanyoung@hotmail.com, or if you do not have email, you may leave a message for Judy via the union office at (206) 448-8588.

All Aboard for COPE 587’s Lobby Day 2010

Our power lies in our numbers

and as more members join this effort our voice grows louder and

political muscle gets

larger.

January 2010

8

In accordance with Article XV, Section 2 pertaining to bylaw proposals, the following bylaw proposal will be published in the News Review, and will be voted upon at through the February cycle of Union meetings.

ARTICLE IV, Section 3

COMMITTEES

OLD:

Section 3. Clallam Transit Ser-vice (CTS) Shop Stewards

The Clallam Transit bargaining unit shall have three Shop Stewards to be elected for a one-year term in office. The election will take place in December of each year. The time and place will be determined by the Re-cording Secretary. The election will be decided by a plurality vote.

BOLD & STRUCK:Section 3. Clallam Transit Ser-

vice (CTS) Shop Stewards The Clallam Transit bargaining

unit shall have three Operations and one Maintenance Shop Steward(s) to be elected for a one-year term in office. The election will take place in December of each year. The time and place will be determined by the Re-cording Secretary. The election will be decided by a plurality vote.

NEW:The Clallam Transit bargaining

unit shall have three Operations and one Maintenance Shop Steward(s) to be elected for a one-year term in office. The election will take place in December of each year. The time and place will be determined by the Re-cording Secretary. The election will be decided by a plurality vote.

To: All Members of Local 587From: Recording Secretary Brian Sherlock

Proposal To Change Bylaws Article IV, Section 3

Submitted by Ludwig Becker

We have all dealt with pas-sengers who do not pay and we have all had to

deal with the official policy which is to state the fare, and than let it go. To date there is no real estimate of how much this is costing King County. Next year that will change. The following is part of the 2010 King County budget:

“Of this appropriation, $1,000,000 shall not be expended or encum-bered until the executive transmits a report on fare evasion by April 30, 2010. The report shall provide an estimate of the extent and cost of

fare evasion based upon the results of an intensive, limited duration, data collection effort that will in-volve a representative sampling of the entire system and be conducted in collaboration with the transit op-erators. The report shall also include recommended strategies to address fare evasion.”

I do not yet know the exact form the study will take, but your partici-pation is essential if it is to be useful. you may get more information at or before the pick. Stay tuned. This will be interesting.

Your Fare Please

By Jim Hermanson

New budget rules require a report on fare evasion

We have noticed that most of the copies of the Union News Review have been disappearing from the counters at the base. We are asking that you please refrain from taking all the copies!! Some should be left for our Union Members. If you need more copies, please contact Local 587 and we will happily send you more. Apparently, some issues are more popular than others.

Thank You.Don Mac Adam Vice President #2 Maintenance

Notice to East Maintenance Managers!!!

If you and I had been anything less than these tormented souls we would never have gone so far to become what we are

If you and I have never seen the world as through the eyes of a child we would never have wanted to stop time

sleepers passing byIf you and I had been anything less than these disenfranchised minds

we would have looked the other way as we passed each other byAnd for the things I know, from the broken, all I ask

is to look beyond this place. Stop staring at the ground

thinking only what went wrongI know there are days,

too dark or hard to take I hope you know,

this is just one day you have to face this is not the whole of your life

This is one day One day out of the whole of your life

Verum ÆternusSubmitted by Joshua Laff

Lyrics by VNV Nation

King County needs Transit-Only lanes on I-5. Back when Metro still had routes that

went to the Lynnwood Park and Ride, and Freeway traffic was light, I could deadhead from Lynnwood to Downtown in only 20 minutes. Those traffic conditions could be duplicated on a daily basis, (for buses) if the DOT were willing to dedicate Transit-Only lanes on I-5 during rush hour. All the bus riders who were lucky or forward thinking enough to ride a route that used Freeway Bus lanes would be rewarded with an exceptionally fast commute.

Transit-Only lanes on I-5, with HOV feeders from the local major and minor arterials, would provide safe, reliable and rapid transporta-tion to the downtown business core for commuters throughout the entire region. It is the one missing ingredient in Rapid Ride.

Currently, riding the bus saves our passengers’ money by reducing their expenditures on gas, parking, insurance and car maintenance. However riding the bus rarely saves time. Coaches usually get stuck in the same traffic jams as POVs. Freeway Transit-Only lanes would change all that. Travel time to the CBD would not only be become more predictable, but would be reduced dramatically each way.

During the start up phase, traffic congestion would naturally increase in the remaining POV lanes. How-ever, if the local Transit systems can significantly and consistently reduce the time it takes to reach the CBD, commuters would see first hand how much faster it was to ride the bus to work. As they began watching buses bypassing traffic jams and gridlock,

POV use would steadily decrease in favor of riding truly Rapid Transit.

Extending the Transit Only Lanes onto the Stewart Street and 4th Av-enue South off-ramps (during rush hour) could be a way to get coaches into the CBD faster, by getting them rapidly onto Third and Fourth Av-enues. This would prevent coaches from getting stacked up while enter-ing downtown.

The Viaduct Replacement Proj-ect is going to require Transit-Only lanes through Downtown to work. By merging Rapid Ride, the Transit tunnel, downtown bus lanes and Transit-Only freeway lanes, a fully functional Transit model for our re-gion would be created.

This would support a more effi-cient economy, encourage transit use, leave a lasting legacy of clean air, and reduce the region’s use of hydrocar-bon fuels as well as our dependence on foreign oil. Another benefit would be an increase in commuters’ leisure time, which would promote both worker health and increased leisure time spending. This would further benefit the local economy and help stimulate tourism. Seattle could be-come a model for other cities to follow. The promotion and use of local bio-diesel would also segue nicely into this environmentally sound model of Transportation.

Additional benefits include faster travel times that would increase the efficiency of Metro schedules, without negatively impacting Op-erator health, and Police, Fire and Emergency vehicles could use the lanes during rush hour operation, possibly saving lives. It’s an idea worth looking at.

In Solidarity,Andrew A. Jeromsky

Transit Only Lanes on I-5Andrew A. Jeromsky,

Executive Board Officer ATU Local 587

January 2010

9

The Winter Woes

Vice President MacAdam’s ReportBy Don MacAdam

January, for Maintenance, has never been a welcome time un-less you were fortunate to have a

cushy inside job with a good heater. During the 1980’s snow schedule, we mechanics would hang chains all day and night. Not the wimpy cable chains we have now, but the Real Chains that weighed 40 pounds, and we would do it for 10 to 12 hours a day. If a link broke, it would destroy the fender & well. When the outer chain broke, it would wrap itself up tight in the center of the duals. So, you could either take the wheel off or use an oxygen/acetylene torch to cut the links.

Also, the weather would cause dead batteries, freeze air and brake systems, and of course, no or low heat, and with the trolleys you would have the hot coach issues.

Coaches would slide and block entire streets, or be stuck in the ditch, or wrapped into poles. I once heard a desperate radio call from a driver who told the dispatcher, “I am going down hill! The brakes are locked up! I’m still sliding and there are cars in front of me at a red light at the bot-tom! What do I do?! What do I do?! A calm voice came over the radio that said, “Hang in there!”

So best of luck to all of you who are keeping things running! From the Equipment Service Workers who

move coaches and help with the chains, to Facilities who keep the pipes unfrozen and the heat on, and to everyone else THANKS!

And, if some of you drivers should pass through the yard and find some mechanic chaining coaches with a sign that reads, “Will work for food!” Please help them out!!!

Now, what’s going on?The 101 grievance: Union mem-

ber B. Nussbaum is re-inspecting all the new vans & coaches and repairs are being made at Atlantic Mainte-nance. T. Fix won his grievance at 3rd step. Hernandez and Caraway arbitrations may be resolved with-out going to arbitration. J. Jones vacation arbitration is scheduled for Feb.25. By the time this is printed, I will have had the third step for J. Bonnar Clerk grievance. And, of course, the third step hearing for the worst write-up of the year by Paula Smail & Deb. Stenoien (assisted by Dennis Pingeon). I think this is going to win…but, at this writing I’m at the union office, it’s 7:00 p.m. and I just received an e-mail from an East Maintenance Mechanic…we’ll see.

Just came back from the J. Salkeld 3rd step worst write-up of the year grievance hearing. On the Metro side was Vasti Curtis and Mary Jensen. Mary is the only person I have met outside of South Maintenance that

agrees that this write-up was justi-fied. I was so surprised I had to wonder that maybe she was disap-pointed that this was not a termina-tion hearing. I made mention that I talked to other Metro managers who were as shocked as the rest of us about this write-up. Mary wanted to know WHO I talked to (and not in a friendly way). I told her that I would not give her the names (Wishart, Marcel, B. Llillquist, Mo) as I didn’t want anyone to get in trouble!

By the way, Mary Jensen will be Boon’s replacement as of Jan.16 for awhile or maybe permanently! And The Booner! Just seems like the other day I was watching him…never mind. Mr. Boon saved a lot of your jobs a few years back, so be grateful; and, if things work out as usual, he will soon be back as a special consultant at twice his

current salary.Worst Base of the Month…Since

South Maintenance has made prog-ress on the 101 van /coach accep-tance grievances, they’re out. North Maintenance Chief problems…only a couple calls. SO, due to the number of complaints and a recent mechanic termination, EAST Maintenance is, once again (that means the third time), The WBOM!

Vacation pick…Metro has been notified that your union has with-drawn from the verbal agreement that only allowed vacation to be picked only in blocks of five days. We will be reverting to our Historical and traditional use of vacation time. We also have the J. Jones arbitration which deals with the same topic which is due to start Feb. 25.

Wishing all of you a Happy New year and may all your managers be bright!

Brown Sock Blue Sock

Vice President Sepolen’s ReportBy Rick Sepolen

So here I sit with one brown sock and one blue sock sticking out of the bottom of my pants legs.

For the past twelve hours I have been sporting this particular sarto-rial transgression and if it hadn’t been for the caring and alert 587 office staff I would not have been the wiser.

If I was as good a writer as my fellow officers I would have the talent to shape this situation into a wonderful homily that would, at its completion, be an inspiration to the membership. To do what I am not sure, but doggone it, it would be awe inspiring. But, alas, it is sim-ply a result of a physical condition: color blindness. To be more precise: the lack of color. you see (no pun

intended. I think?) I do not see any colors. My world is one of shades of black and white and grays. When you think color blindness it ususally associated with a person’s inability to differentiate between colors. In my case it goes way beyond that.

According to the doctor, the cones and rods that are in the eyes properly perceive colors, but do not properly transmit this information to the brain. I know, some of you would question if there is a brain to receive such info. For the sake of this discussion, I ask that you allow me to fantasize. Thanks.

So I have spent my life viewing the world as though I were watch-ing a black and white television program. And, no, I do not miss

seeing colors, because I have never seen them so I don't know what it is I am supposed to be longing for. Well, I think I would like to see puce just because I like the way the word rolls off the tongue.

My clothing is organized through a series of coded dots and with a little bit effort I manage to keep each item within the same color family. Except when it comes to my socks. Those pesky things tend to do more than disappear into the depths of the clothes dryer, they refuse to be gracefully coded. This results in one brown and one blue sock mucking up my day.

Still before this mix-up was called to my attention, I was having one very productive day. I tackled the

business of the local; assisted mem-bers with a variety of issues and questions; planned for negotiations; worked with the Executive Board in charting the path the local will fol-low during 2010. In fact it has been such a good day I even remember asking the right questions and get-ting the right answers. yes, indeed, pretty heady stuff.

The kind of stuff that causes a guy to walk around with his chest stuck out just a little further than usual. Head held high thinking he just might have things under control. Until, that is, he is told about those dang socks.

Happy New year everyone.

We will be reverting to our Historical and traditional use of vacation time.

January 2010

10

January 2010

The Financial Secretary’s ReportBy Paul Neil

Annual Dues Increase

The Local By-Laws provide in Article VIII “Dues and Assess-ments”, Sect 1:

“The dues for each member of Lo-cal 587 shall be based upon two (2) times the average hourly wage for represented employees in effect on January 1st of each year. (The aver-age hourly wage shall be computed by adding the top hourly wage of the lowest and highest represented job classifications, and then dividing this figure by two (2).)

The top hourly wages on Janu-ary 1, 2010 were $45.86 for Senior Schedule Planners at KCMetro. The lowest paid represented position is Customer Service Representative at Paratransit Services in Port Angeles at $11.49 per hour.

Summing and dividing by two yields $28.68 for the average hourly wage, 2 X $28.68 equals monthly union dues of $57.36 per member. This represents an increase of $1.78 or 3.02% over the current dues of $55.58. This applies to all members employed at public agencies. The Customer Service Representative at

Paratransit Services in Port Angeles has not received a wage increase since January 1, 2009. The contract at Paratransit Services has expired December 31, 2009 and is currently being negotiated. All members at KCMetro, including Senior Sched-ule Planners, received a 1% wage increase effective March 18, 2009 and an additional wage increase of 3% effective October 31, 2009.

The by-laws provide that mem-bers employed at private employers shall pay the minimum dues set by the A.T.U. International which are currently $46.25 per month and will be adjusted for inflation this July 1.

Below is the report I read to the membership at the December cycle of meetings.

Financial Secretary’s December 2009 Membership Meeting Report

New Member Applications:BASHIR D. BUDUL SEATTLE

PERSONAL TRANSIT OperatorSHARMAAKE I. NOOR

SEATTLE PERSONAL TRANSIT

OperatorIn the month of November 2009

we reported 2 new members to the ATU International. Both are em-ployed at Seattle Personal Transit. This brings are total active member-ship to 4117. This is an increase of 120 members compared this time last year when we had 3997 active members.

Bills:All financial figures are subject to

the review of the Executive Board. In November total income was $196,621.69 which is an increase of $10,575.20 or 5.7% over last No-vember.

Per Capita payments totaled $55,461.40 for the month of Novem-ber which is a 0.4% increase over the same period last year.

Other bills for payroll, rent, legal, etc totaled $175,504.03 which is an increase of $4,368.67 or 2.6% over the previous November. The increase would have been a slight decrease except for the need to replace our server which was failing. Payroll costs, which are the largest category of expenditures, were down by 2.8%

which is outstanding considering we have added an additional fulltime officer since last year. This amounts to a $34,343.74 deficit for the month compared to a deficit of $40,352.19 for November 2008.

My activities for the month:Met with two tenant agents who

wish to represent us in our office relocation efforts. Their services include helping us search for a build-ing to purchase as well as negotiat-ing a lease if we decide to continue renting.

Participated in negotiations for Clallam Transit and Clallam Para-transit.

Attended the funeral service for Seattle Police Officer Timothy Bren-ton along with several members.

Our Auditor Herman Lindsey has been here this week starting on the audit of our 2009 finances.

Working on the purchase of a new copier for the office. The oldest one we have is completely worn out and needs to be replaced. We purchase rather then lease because we have a very high volume of copies.

Each grievance that the Union pursues to arbitration (the last step of the appeal process)

must be approved by the member-ship at our monthly union meetings. The membership decides whether each grievance should go to arbitra-tion or not. The membership also pays the costs of those approved arbitrations annually, on a per capita basis, as required by Section 21.15 of the International Constitution and General Laws. In addition, Work-ers Compensation attorney fees are included as provided for in our Bylaws, Article VIII, Section 5.

During 2009 Local 587 paid a total of $120,3681.51 for the 12 grievance the membership voted to take to ar-bitration and $23,672.61 in workers compensation attorneys’ fees for a total assessment of $144,354.12 to be collected in 2010.

To determine how much each member will be assessed, the total assessable costs of $144,354.12 are divided by the total active member-ship and is then rounded to an even number.

Total assessable costs: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $144,354.12Total active members: . . . . . . 4117Cost per member: . . . . . . .$35.0629Rounded to an even number: $35.06

The arbitration assessment this year is $35.06. A notice will be sent to the members at each property informing them of when the Griev-ance Arbitration Assessment will be deducted. Attached is a list detail-ing the expenses of each Grievance Arbitration and Workers Compen-sation case.

Please note that one of the guid-ing principles of Local 587 is that an injury to one is an injury to all regardless of job classification or work location. A demonstration of this principle can be found on the list of arbitrations. Of the three most costly arbitrations in 2009 the most costly is for an Equipment Service Worker at Metro/King County, the second for an Electronic Technician at Metro/King County and the third for a Transit Operator at Metro/King County.

If you have any questions, please contact me at the Union office.

Annual Grievance Arbitration Assessment

2009 Grievance Arbitration and Workers Compensation

ExpensesGrievance ArbitrationsDean Borders . . . . . . . $ 252.00Alan Freeman . . . . . . . . 29,438.23Antonio Hernandez . . . . 5,320.00Carol Leak . . . . . . . . . . . .5,668.50Aaron Lewis. . . . . . . . . . . 2,125.00Dan T. Linville . . . . . . . .7,474.87Earl Mangold . . . . . . . . . .1,540.00John Ross . . . . . . . . . . . . .2,467.50Iordan Tchernev . . . . . . 30,894.85Bill Wallace . . . . . . . . . .29,375.30 George Williams . . . . . . .5,705.26 Ehsanollah Zarghami . . . . 420.00 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $120,681.51

Workers Compensation Charlene Alexander . . . $1,463.94John Bouie . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,157.12Donald Brown . . . . . . . . . . 360.60 Suzanne Burgess . . . . . . . . 979.42 Lillette Davis . . . . . . . . . .1,673.99 Lia Fetui . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 925.52 Dexter Hart . . . . . . . . . . .1,555.20 Carolyn Herring . . . . . . . . 378.00 Greg Klasen . . . . . . . . . . .2,145.03 Michael Larson . . . . . . . .1,873.03 Craig Manley . . . . . . . . . .6,676.08 Ray Mason . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196.00 Porter Mathis . . . . . . . . . .1,651.10 Ralph Palmer . . . . . . . . . . . . 35.55 Cheryl Rowe . . . . . . . . . . . 255.53 Tyler Schultz . . . . . . . . . .2,346.50 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $23,672.61

Grand Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$144,354.12

Divided by 4117 Active Members . $35.06

January 2010

11

Choose Excellence

The Recording Secretary’s ReportBy Brian Sherlock

Like most months, the last was very interesting here at your Union. Last month I

wrote about the failure of Rail to understand their employees and the realities of their jobs. That picture is slowly improving as the inevitable unfolds. Hopefully that will include not punishing the remarkably skilled operators who made their system look literally 10 times safer than similar systems at this point in their history. The best of the best were willing to try Rail due to being able to pick back if it did not work. Rail has been fighting to keep those picks completely separate in time and loca-tion. The reality of how that can not possibly work is slowly dawning. If they have not responded by the time you read this, we may have senior Operators on the bottom of the extra board, driving garbage that they have not had to pick for decades. By the way, thanks for making Rail look far better than they are.

On the positive end of the spec-trum, we have Clallam Transit. your Officers have been frequently making the long pilgrimage to Port Angeles to negotiate their contract. The worst problem there has been the treatment their half-dozen maintenance workers were getting from the manager of maintenance. Don MacAdam, our Maintenance VP, has been making sure that the clear abuse was exposed in no un-certain terms. It was a well-deserved scorching, reminding me of a quote from H. L. Mencken: “Injustice is relatively easy to bear: what stings is justice.” That sting came to the Maintenance manager from his exposure within the culture at our otherwise best managed property, where they understand the mean-ing and value of mutual respect. We hear that improvement has already occurred, although at the bargain-ing table we did see an old reflex replayed as he demonstrated con-

tempt, noting how easy their group could be replaced. This confirmed the episodic nature of improvement we have had reported to us. I believe that the memory of Don’s righteous indignation and the other manager’s collective embarrassment will yield further progress. Both management and our dedicated, hard working members will truly have better lives for it.

The other property headquar-tered in Port Angeles, with which we are also negotiating, has earned universal recognition as the worst managed transit property, Clallam Paratransit. Although this time we got no objections to taking typed notes (yes, despite the fact that what we negotiate is LANGUAGE!) we did get an objection to our proposal on economic grounds and then a refusal to discuss the basis of that claim! What little discussion we got was a claim that our proposed health care increases would cost double what is paid at King County for better coverage. When we politely pointed out the absurdity, a second manager pointed out that employees could have 15 children, driving up costs. I kid you not! I have the notes — thanks to their being so unusually flexible with us in this negotiation and allowing the flagrant taking of notes. you can see why they would not want to be quoted. They have now gone to the press with a claim that we are asking for a compensa-tion increase equal to the entire defi-cit of Clallam County! I guess that is what happens when 28 employees have 420 children!

At King County Metro, we are embarking on yet another attempt to cut costs without getting at the real causes. This too is a result of a failure to communicate the realities to those making the decisions. The audit pointed out that savings were available if we cut down breaks on paper. So, the council has directed

the pursuit of those dollars. It is somewhat comic that the costs are actually driven by past decisions of the council themselves. This forms a circular series of decisions, each running from the result of the last until we return to the beginning. For instance, complaints about schedule reliability caused many years of schedule maintenance allocations to be put into splitting linked routes. This prevents a wheelchair boarding on one route in the north end, caus-ing the next trip, on a different line in the south end, to be late. Those years of effort increased “recovery” and improved customer satisfaction. Now customer satisfaction is high, but so is recovery time on paper, so the council reverses direction and runs from that complaint. Soon we shall again have more complaints about late buses and missed connec-tions and the cycle will begin again. Leadership isn’t always pretty.

In the mean time, we will see more deadheading which will cause public complaints about coaches running around empty. We will see increases in industrial injuries and more fatigued Operators causing additional accidents and complaints. The ugliest outcome will be cutting of Part-Time shifts, over four hours, to avoid paying the benefit packages associated. Given that most of those who will earn benefits have already done so this shake-up and will be covered until 2013, this will not be very effective and the software doing the cut will not be able to tell who will pick what work and whether any real savings will come from the shorter assignments. However, abysmally short shifts will drive increased turnover, more beginner mistakes, and decreases in efficiency since short pieces of work are more than half deadhead! This cycle will return us to the press unearthing the inefficiency of short trippers. Now that is progress!

I believe that the Union has been moving in very good directions with broader engagement in the processes that guide our futures. Most important has been seeking cooperation and mutual benefit across three bargaining tables and finding it with all but the poorest managers. I am also proud of how we have been filling in the gaps of communication between manage-ment and those doing the work. We need to inform and provide balance, for instance counteracting overly political decisions on the part of the council by pointing out the costs of repeatedly looking at only one side of a problem. At Rail we have slow and steady progress in understand-ing how to continue looking good by integrating with the Bus transit workforce. Those managers are good people who are not experienced with such an arrangement and how it can be carefully designed to work well for all involved, from management to employees to riders carried by the best of the best instead of the rest. With Metro, the negotiations ahead will pivot on whether we wisely negotiate for the long-term quality of service or for balancing the short-term budget shortfall on the backs of employees. Like at Rail, the quality of service is dominated by the skill sets of your employees. Attract and retain the best and the long term will be exemplary. Make the short term volume of service a higher priority and the long term will be bleak. Prior to the King County takeover, Metro understood this fundamental issue and targeted compensation to attract and retain the top 15% of possible applicants. Those managing this agency mostly came from the labor pool that resulted. Our future will depend on whether we again choose excellence or retreat to much poorer targets through failure to recognize that “No matter what your business, people are your business.”

As we reach the end of 2009 we would like to thank each and every one of you for

volunteering to help your Union’s Public Relations Committee.

Viaduct planning continues, spe-cifically the issues of Transit mitiga-tion and Transit pathways through the CBD. PRC Chair Linda Anderson is a sitting member of the Viaduct working group.

Setting up the Committees con-tacts list with the Media, Volunteer and Community Organizations, Politicians and Labor groups is nearly completed.

As a direct result of a PRC press release Kyle Moore of KOMO cov-ered the memorial to fellow Op-erator and our fallen Brother Mark McLaughlin. It can be viewed at:

http://www.king5.com/home/GEN-TLE-GIANT-REMEMBERED-11-YEARS-AFTER-HORRIFIC-BUS-ACCIDENT-76591362.html

Mark’s former fiancé has written a memoir. you can find information about it at: http://www.komonews.com/news/73269222.html

The PRC went to the South Seattle Community Meeting Sept. 30 about Transit and spoke on the need for stable Transit funding. Linda Aver-ill and Chuck Lare were two of our ATU’s members who spoke during the public comment period.

Our Union was going to join with its Sister Local, ATU 1724, in an informational picket at the Overlake Transit Center support-ing striking Para-transit Workers in Vancouver, B.C.

Seattle, WA- Transit workers from Handy DART have been on strike since October 26th, 2009. Their employer, MV Transportation, took over the contracts for the Para-transit service for the disabled in January 1st of this year. Issues include:

Handy Dart workers have the low-est wages in the Vancouver transit system.

MV has refused to continue participa-tion in the municipal pension plan.

The call center that handles book-ing will be out-sourced.

Elimination of their full-time guarantee.

Increasing the use of casual work-ers who do not receive benefits.

The informational picket was called off at the last minute, because M.V. agreed to come back to the bar-

gaining table ---so long as ATU didn’t picket. We don’t know if the threat of a picket is what brought M.V. to the table, but this is what Local 1724 was hoping for. Clearly this is a victory for ATU. Let’s hope the bargaining continues in good faith.

And now a special thanks to the following volunteers: to Linda Averill for monitoring City Council meetings, and for her talking points regarding KC Metros route reductions and sug-gestions for funding options; to Jim Curneen for monitoring the Kitsap Sun for us; to Paul Teft for his computer help; and to Volunteer Matt Leber for his suggestion to use Facebook and Twitter--his proposal is being researched by the 587 Officers.

Thanks! Happy Holidays, The Public Relations Committee

From the PR Committee…

January 2010

12

Retirees’ Corner The View from

the BusesBy Bob Morgan, Retired First-Line Supervisor

Happy New Year...

I had intended to write a column for the November edition, and did. Well it is out there some-

where in cyberspace. Was too busy to do one for December so here we are and it is the New year. I had mentioned in the “lost” article that I hadn’t written anything since July as I was taking many small vaca-tions from retirement. Don’t laugh, I’m very serious about that (Wife still works, get it!). I had written an article about security at Metro in its infancy, but due to many happenings I’ll postpone that article for later.

Many things have happened since I last wrote anything and I’ll attempt to “catch-up,” if I can remember all of what has occurred. The Retiree’s BBQ took place June at lower Woodland Park. Saw many old friends, and some newer retiree’s as well. Talked with Gary Pilcher who mentioned the wonderful turnout in Winthrop, WA for the Carl Owens Golf tourney, including many who came from California and Nevada.

The rest of the summer was pretty uneventful, that is except the hot weather, until early September. Dan and Jennie Sheppard and my wife and I got together for dinner prior to them heading south. Then met up with the Roger Cady’s for dinner in mid September as they were on their way back to the Tucson area.

Then the bad news, first C.J. Farr passed away. Then former South base chief John Lamb died from a massive coronary. This news hit me kind of hard as John and myself had been good friends since he had come to Metro in 1978. Then the gentle

giant, Ray Sullivan passed away a few days later. Three wonderful people in a little over a week and a half — very sad.

I thought I’d share a two stories about John Lamb. As I mentioned we knew each other since early 1978. I qualified him on some routes while I was still driving at East Base, then later I trained him in the old control center in the Exchange Building.It was during this time that John became, well, one of the guys (so to speak). He was working the grave-yard shift in the control center and one night he decided that he was going to do something unusual. He brought in an 800 watt bulb, like the kind used for old home movie cameras, and screwed it into the track lighting over the chief’s desk. When the chief came in that morning, prior to John’s leaving, he turned on the light not knowing that it was pointed towards the wall. As the wall started to smoke from the heat it made I made a point to mention that the there was the possibility of a fire. The chief then went over and looked directly into the light fixture, unhuh this really happened. In 1987 I was working at Bellevue Base at the window and John was in Training. He took and passed the exam for chief and South was the only base he worked at until his retirement in 2002. I worked at various places after that until 1994 when I followed Dale Bartz at South Base on the AM shift. I can’t remember the year exactly, but all of management was up at the Airport Marriott for year-end retreat. It was a fairly normal day for me at South Base. Being a Friday I had completed the board and the

window was running normally (did both jobs then ). Terry Lorenzo said he was hungry and so did Pat Carnahan. Both were on report, along with another operator who I can’t remember. Off they went to get some Teryaki at a place on E. Marginal past Boeing. If you spent so much on an order they gave you Kimchee for free. If you have ever been around this stuff you know it has a certain“air” to it. (Rudy Kollar used to be the early report and Terry and Pat would get some Kimchee and consume in the old back office on the first floor at South. Rudy would either be upstairs or down, didn’t matter where he was, he could be power sleeping between assignments, and would wake up screaming “where is Lorenzo and that D#*! smell?”) Anyway we used John’s office for the “Report Opera-tors Retreat.” Now if you remember John’s office, it was always clean, including the desktop. Pat made a nice sign off the computer and we placed it on the door to John’s office. Oh, and one other thing we did, we didn’t clean up anything. Empty cartons on the desk and the partly eaten Kimchee unwrapped in the garbage can next to John’s desk. This all happened sometime after 11:00 AM and John stopped by the office around 4:00 PM or so. He unlocked the door, and according to everyone who knew what had happened, burst out in laughter at the sight and even the smell. The following Monday he came into work as normal, cleaning up the bullpen, then around the outside of the building. When he came back in he motioned me to his office. I

can’t mention the exact content of the conversation, then he laughed and said “paybacks are hell, Bob.” I don’t think he ever paid me back for that stunt.

Just heard that Pete Cameron, who lives in Depot Bay, OR; fell and broke his hip, requiring hip replace-ment. As many of you know Pete’s wife Ann suffered a stroke a few years ago and has limited mobil-ity, so this was not a good thing in more ways than one. Pete said that the “whole town” has in one way or another helped with cleaning and food prep for both of them, making the recovery much better than it could have been.

Dale and Linda Bartz have listed their house in the Kirkland area prior to moving to their new place in the Philippines sometime after the first of this month. I got this info from Dale in September, then the islands were hit with no less than four Typhoons (Hurricanes), so I don’t know how the new place fared after the storms.

The Retiree’s lunch was “Fantas-tic” as usual. Special thanks to Ed and Lisa Carter for helping to set up the Burien Elks. And of course kudos to Al and Ruth Ramey and Dave Carter for a wonderful day with many friends old and new. I also want to thank yOUR officers who helped in the serving of the food, this was special for all in getting their food in a timely manner.

Well this about covers what has happened in the last few months...thanks for reading.

See you soon from the BusesBob Morgan

President’s Report, continued

WORK SITE VISITSPaul Bachtel, President, will be visiting

various work sites during the month of January. Below is a list of times, dates and locations.

January 13th Bellevue Maintenance 2:00 pm – 2:30 pm Bellevue Operations 2:30 pm – 4:00 pm

January 14th East Maintenance 2:00 pm – 2:30 pm East Operations 2:30 pm – 4:00 pm

January 15th North Maintenance 2:00 pm – 2:30 pm North Operations 2:30 pm – 4:00 pm

MOA before the Executive Board and/or respective membership.

Clallam Transit SystemThe Officers and shop stewards

met with Clallam Transit System (CTS) management in our third day of negotiations on December 8. At the time of this writing, we are scheduled to meet again December 17 & 18. Thus far, we’ve covered a lot of ground and I’m hopeful a ten-tative agreement can reached prior to contract expiration. Negotiations with CTS have been polite, cordial and productive.

Clallam Paratransit Services

The Officers and shop stewards met for a second day of negotiations with Clallam Paratransit Services (CPS) on December 8. Although the Union gave CPS proposals on ground rules and contract language in our first meeting, CPS manage-ment refused to respond to the Union’s ground rules or contract proposals. This outright refusal

to bargain in good faith leaves the Union little choice. The citizens of Clallam County can expect the Union to respond with all the means at its disposal.

In accordance with our Bylaws, I will be holding a Special Meeting of the Local on the first business day following contract expiration (Janu-ary 4, 2010) for CTS and CPS (Both contracts expire December 31, 2009). Details of the Special Meeting of the Local will have been announced via a Bulletin and on the Local’s website. In light of CPS refusal to bargain in good faith, the Local 587 will also be requesting permission from our International to strike CPS. Details of a strike or any work actions will be debated and voted upon by the CPS membership at the January 4, 2010 meeting and will be reported upon at the Local’s January cycle of meetings.

I’m hopeful agreements can be reached with FT, CTS and CPS in the near future. The Union will be proposing contract negotiation meetings with KCM begin in late

spring. The Union will be prepar-ing by writing its proposals through winter and early spring.

With the inclusion of Rail and Streetcar in our last Labor Agree-ment, we have a lot work ahead. Much of the Rail language was written prior to the beginning of Rail service and addressed initial hiring and service. With Rail up and run-ning, both the Union and Rail man-agement will no doubt be proposing many changes in language.

I’m looking forward to 2010 as a

year filled with negotiations. Man-agement at all of our properties will be claiming poverty and the Union will be proposing solutions that maintain or improve our wages, benefits and working conditions. With our Union Officers, shop stewards and rank and file mem-bership standing in solidarity, we will achieve our goals!

In Solidarity,Happy New yearPaul J. Bachtel