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PAIDSEATTLE WA

PERMIT NO 1471

ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED

AMALGAMATED • TRANSIT • UNION

2700 1st Avenue, Room 204Seattle, WA 98121

LETTERS TOTHE EDITOR

Pages 4 & 5

WOMEN’S COMMITTEEREPORTPage 3

PICNIC COMMITTEEREPORT AND PHOTOS

Page 6

AUGUST 2001

VOL. XXIV, NO. 8

ON JUNE 18TH, AT THE KING

Street Center, our unionpresented its unfair la-

bor practice (ULP) complaintagainst Metro over the right todistribute leaflets at the worksitein non-work areas on non-worktime without management inter-ference.

The ULP charge stemmed froman incident that occurred almosttwo years ago, on the eve of ourAugust 1999 contract vote, whenoperator Linda Averill was or-dered off the base by manage-ment for handing out a leafletthat raised concerns about work-ing conditions and safety, andurged members to reject Metro’scontract offer. The contract wassubsequently rejected by a 52 per-cent margin.

The incident is not the firsttime that management hasstopped union members fromleafleting their views about con-tract proposals at the worksite,but a strong decision from thePublic Employment RelationsCommission (PERC) could pro-hibit management in the future

from thwarting our right to fullydiscuss and consider the pros andcons of a contract offer.

The hearing was presided overby PERC Examiner PaulSchwendiman, and a contingentof operators, including Linda andCraig Anderson, Nate Chappelle,Nancy Clark, Kevin Hendricks,and Warren Yee attended thehearing to show their support forthe union’s position.

During their testimony, Metroadmitted under oath that theyviolated state law when they or-dered Averill off the base under acontract provision that requiresemployees to obtain written con-sent from management if theysolicit on non-Metro related busi-ness at the worksite. Metro alsoadmitted that they routinely dis-regard this clause, and allow em-ployees to solicit all kinds of things,from Girl Scout cookies to raffletickets, without demanding writ-ten consent. In Averill’s case, how-ever, they strictly enforced thecontract provision even though shewas not disrupting work or caus-ing interference of any kind.

Since there is no dispute overwhether Metro violated state law,PERC’s ruling will center on theremedy requested. Under the Pub-lic Employment Collective Bar-gaining statute, it is unlawful foremployers to interfere with em-ployees’ rights to organize. In anattempt to circumvent this lawMetro has concocted a policy thatsays employees won’t be barredaccess to leafleting the worksite –as long as the material is firstpreviewed by management anddeemed in “good taste”!

Given Metro’s history of selec-tive enforcement, and of interfer-ing with union members who areleafleting about contracts or other

vital workplace issues, their newpolicy is not acceptable. More-over, it still constitutes interfer-ence since management must first“approve” all material. Ourunion’s position, articulated ex-pertly in the hearing by attorneyJon Rosen, is that PERC directMetro management to “cease anddesist” its interference and ha-rassment of union members whoare exercising their rights understate law.

Briefs were filed by Metro andthe union in mid-July and Rosenurged a timely resolution of thecase since the issue is likely tocome up again with the currentround of contract negotiations.

ATTENTION ALL METRO/KING COUNTYPART TIME OPERATORS

Restriction forms are due at the window by 7:45p.m., August 9

No late restriction forms will be accepted.No exceptions.

ATU 587 defends the right toorganize at Metro

By Linda Averill and Nate Chappelle

2 August 2001

Executive BoardReport

July 24, 2001

Among topics to be discussed:King County/Metro and JTA negotiations, MV transition, PDC

update.

Unfinished Business:Proposed bylaw amendment for Article IV, Section 1, submitted by

Recording Secretary Jennie Gil, will be discussed and voted on.

Tentative AgendaCHARTER MEETINGThursday, August 2, 20018:00 p.m.IBEW Hall Auditorium2700 1st Ave., Seattle, WA

MORNING MEETINGFriday, August 3, 200110:30 a.m.IBEW Hall Auditorium2700 1st Ave., Seattle, WA

JEFFERSON TRANSITMonday, August 6, 20018:00 p.m.Port Townsend Rec CenterPort Townsend, WA

CLALLAM TRANSITTuesday, August 7, 20017:00 p.m.Vern Burton Memorial

Building, Port Angeles, WA

Membership Meetings:

Business of theMembership

At the July cycle of member-ship meetings, the followingbusiness was conducted:

• Motion approving the post-ponement of the September JTAand CTS meetings by one week,due to the timing of the Interna-tional convention. The meetingswill be held on September 17th

and 18th, 2001, respectively.

Published monthly at Seattle bySeattle Local 587 Amalgamated

Transit Union, AFL-CIO.

Official publication of the Seattle Local587 Transit Union representing em-ployees of Metro Transit, Clallam Tran-sit and Jefferson Transit. 2700 FirstAvenue, Seattle, Washington 98121.Telephone: 448-8588.

Affiliations: Washington State Labor Council,King County Labor Council, Northwest JointConference Board, ATU Legislative Council,

Olympic Labor Council.

Letters to the editorLetters/contributions must include sig-natures, work ID number, addressesand telephone numbers that can be veri-fied during office hours. Letters thatcannot be validated will not be pub-lished. All articles/letters are subject toediting and should be limited to 350words or less. Not all letters can bepublished due to space limitations. Cutoff date is the 15th of each month.

Send letters to:

Jennie Gil, Editor

c/o ATU Local 587

News Review

2700 First Avenue, Rm 204

Seattle, WA 98121

WEINGARTEN RIGHTS STATEMENTI request to have a union representative present on my

behalf during this meeting because I believe it may lead todisciplinary action taken against me. If I am denied my right to

have a union representative present, I will refuse to answeraccusational questions and any I believe may lead to discipline.

LANCE F. NORTON Pres/Business Representativeemail – norton@atu587.com

GLEN A. TRAVIS Vice President/AssistantBusiness Representative

email – travis@atu587.com

PAUL L. GRIFFIN Financial Secretaryemail – griffin@atu587.com

JENNIE L. GIL Recording Secretary/Editor 587 News Reviewemail – gil@atu587.com

Minority Affairs Officer SHIRLEY WALKERTransit Operator Position No. 1 GARTH MACCOYTransit Operator Position No. 2 LINDA R. ANDERSONTransit Operator Position No. 3 DEE WAKENIGHTTransit Operator Position No. 4 BRIAN SHERLOCKTransit Operator Position No. 5 DANIEL T. LINVILLETransit Operator Position No. 6 PAUL BACHTELTransit Operator Position No. 7 JOHN FARRELLTransit Operator Position No. 8 KATHERINE ECKHARDTVehicle Maintenance Position No. 1 MIKE ROCHONVehicle Maintenance Position No. 2 MIKE WHITEHEADVehicle Maintenance Position No. 3 JOHN BELLINGERFacilities Maintenance LISA CARTERSpecial Classifications CHRIS DANIELSSupervisors DAVID MAGIDMANClallam/Jefferson County JOE MANGIAMELISPT NINUS HOPKINS

OFFICERS OF THE AMALGAMATED TRANSIT UNION, LOCAL 587:

The Month at a Glance

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

Arbitration Update1. Kenny McCormick:

Grieved failure to followFLSA requirements fortravel time for board/report/ATL operators. Schedulepending.

2. Dean Landon: Grievedimproper assignment ofovertime. Arbitration sched-uled for July 24th, 2001.

3. Bobby Wood: (Laidlaw)Grieved termination forgross negligence. Schedulepending.

4. Lynette Rostollan:Grieved separation of em-ployment due to vision ob-struction with fareboxes.Schedule pending.

In Loving Memory…

James Gardner, passed away July 6, 2001. Brother Gardnerwas active in the retiree group and attended as many of theretiree functions as his health would allow. He joined Local 587in January of 1946 as a Transit Operator, and retired in May of1986.

What the caterpillar calls the end ofthe world, the master calls a butterfly.

—Richard Bach

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

Attention all Seattle Chapterof the Latino Caucus Members

Election of Officers and Bylaw Revisions

SCLC Chapter MeetingThursday, August 2, 7:00 p.m.

IBEW Hall Executive Board room(next to the parking lot entrance)

2700 First Avenue (between Cedar and Clay)

The Seattle Chapter of the Latino Caucus will be submittingChapter bylaw revisions for membership approval, and holdingan election for the position of Chapter Recording Secretary/Treasurer at this meeting. Any Chapter member wishing to runfor this position must be in good standing with the ATU LatinoCaucus. All Chapter members are eligible to vote. Any memberin good standing of Local 587 may join the Seattle Chapter.Hope to see you there!

The following members wereJuly pot draw winners: WarrenYee at the Charter meeting,James Miles at the morningmeeting, Paul Hausmann atJTA. CTS pot draw winner wasMelissa Luebke. Rolling CTS potdraw of $275.00 was lost by JohnBiasotti. Next month’s rollingpot will be $300.00.

Officers present: PresidentLance Norton, Vice PresidentGlen Travis, Financial SecretaryPaul Griffin, Linda Anderson,Paul Bachtel, John Bellinger, LisaCarter, Chris Daniels, NinusHopkins, Dan Linville, GarthMacCoy, David Magidman, BrianSherlock, Dee Wakenight, ShirleyWalker.

The Recording Secretary andJohn Farrell were on vacation,Katherine Eckhardt was on juryduty, Joe Mangiameli was out ill,and Mike Whitehead and MikeRochon were attending an arbi-tration.

The following business was con-ducted:

• Motion by Lisa Carter to rec-ommend approval of proposedbylaw change for Article IV, Sec-tion 1.

• Motion by Dee Wakenight to

request COPE funds for the maxi-mum allowable contribution forthe Dwight Pelz re-election cam-paign.

• Motion by Garth MacCoy tohave an Executive Board retreatas soon as reasonably possible todiscuss union strategy and phi-losophy.

• Motion by Chris Daniels thatthe Executive Board recommendthat the resolution to eliminateobjectionable language allowingpolitical witch hunts from AFLCIO Constitution be forwarded tothe next AFL CIO convention forits adoption.

• Motion by Lisa Carter thatLocal 587 support the CharlestonFive and donate $500.00 to the“Dockers defense fund” in theirfight against the state of SouthCarolina.

August 2001 3

WHILE IN ATLANTA TO ATTEND ourInternational Women’s

Caucus Conference, I had theopportunity to ride several tripson their MARTA public transitsystem. MARTA (MetropolitanAtlanta Rapid Transit Author-ity) is very similar to our METROin its size, variety of vehicle, andarea served.

One comparison/contrast thatI found quite interesting was thefarebox and its “companion”.They use the same farebox wedo, but permanently attachedbetween the front door and thedriver’s compartment is a metal

box slightly longer than ashoebox. This is where thecustomers place their farewhen the farebox is not work-ing.!! This allows the coach tostay in service as it was takingtoo much time to repair on theroad, since the freqency of fareboxfailure was so high.

The other fun part of this pic-ture is the “BAG IT ON THEBUS” bags. There is a rack ofplastic bags attached near thedoor. It was a treat to see folksuse them…sure there were oftenseveral bags under seats…butthe garbage was in the bag.!!

SHOPSTEWARD’S

CORNERONE OF THE BEST WAYS TO

become involved andmore knowledgeable

about the goings on here at MetroTransit is through the shop stew-ard program. Often union mem-bers see the role of the shop stew-ard as a back room barrister rep-resenting fellow employees in thegrievance process. While stew-ards do represent members ingrievance hearings, much of asteward’s time is spent in non-adversarial duties. These dutiesinclude running move-ups, assist-ing fellow employees with workrelated problems and mediatingminor disputes between mem-bers. Management relies on theshop steward to resolve many workrelated difficulties we face, andperform many duties related topick and move-up. Joining the shopsteward program can be a useful

Shop Steward TrainingBy Executive Board Officer Paul Bachtel

tool to advance one’s career.The steward program is di-

rected by Vice President GlenTravis and chaired by ExecutiveBoard Officer Linda Anderson.Committee members include Ex-ecutive Board Officers MikeRochon, Katherine Eckhardt, DeeWakenight, Paul Bachtel andShop Steward Scotty McDonnell.The committee meets often andwelcomes your suggestions andsupport. Each shake-up we con-duct a shop steward trainingcourse and have an advancedtraining course coming soon.

The most recent training tookplace on June 28, 2001, and in-cluded a new curriculum gleanedfrom a recent A.T.U. training semi-nar sponsored by Local 757, Port-land, Oregon. Dee Wakenight andPaul Bachtel presented the coursematerial. In attendance were

members from Metro/KingCounty, Clallam Paratransit andJefferson Transit. The course in-cluded subjects such as duties ofthe steward, writing and present-ing a grievance, duty to fair repre-sentation and just cause in disci-pline hearings. The subject mat-ter may sound a bit dry at first,but when presented in context ofour daily work lives the coursewas indeed informative, judgingfrom the course evaluation re-sponses we received. The twelvemembers in attendance rated thecourse as a 9.5 on a scale of 1-10and wrote comments such as “clearand concise”, “very informative”and “very good”.

Almost all worksites have theirfull entitlement of stewards at themoment, but being an alternatesteward is a good way to start. Tosign up to be an alternate shop

steward, send a memo or e-mail toRecording Secretary Jennie Gilrequesting to be appointed. Pleaseinclude your full name, ID, classi-fication and work site. To sign upto be a shop steward during thenext shake-up send a memo or ane-mail to Jennie during shop stew-ard nominations following eachpick. The dates for shop stewardnominations are posted on theunion bulletin board followingeach pick. Training dates areposted shortly thereafter. Record-ing Secretary Jennie Gil’s mailstop is “ATU Local 587” and her e-mail address is gil@atu587.com.I hope to see you at the next shopsteward training.

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This picture may not be worth a thousand words, but to many ofus it is certainly worth a smile!

THE 587 WOMEN’S COMMIT-tee has been busy this sum-mer. Our mission is “To in-

spire and educate Local 587 womenin order to insure and strengthentheir participation in ATU; to pro-mote unionism and to raise thepolitical awareness of all members”.We attended the InternationalWomen’s Caucus, have been final-izing the upcoming dance details,and are exploring a possible newproject.

The 15th Annual A.T.U. Interna-tional Women’s Caucus Conferencewas held June 7-10 in Atlanta, Geor-gia, and was hosted by A.T.U. Local732’s Women’s Committee. Fiveworkshops were offered- FinancialInvestment, Coping with TerminalIllness in the Workplace, Commu-nication to Success, ParliamentaryProcedure, and Mock Arbitration.We also heard many wonderfulspeakers and discussed organiza-tional business.

I took two classes, Communica-tion to Success and Mock Arbitra-tion. The communication class cov-ered both verbal and non-verbalways to communicate , as well asspeaking and listening skills. If Ihad to pick out the most importantpoint to remember from this class itwould be that the only messagethat counts is the message that isreceived. When we talk to anotherperson, or are listening to someone,it is very important to make surethat you are giving/receiving themessage that was truly intended.This means that the person givingthe message needs to be very spe-cific and on point. The person re-ceiving the message should repeatback to the other party the messagethey thought they heard.

The second class I took, MockArbitration, stressed how impor-tant it is to write a grievance prop-erly, thorough investigation of griev-ances, and “just cause”. It is ex-tremely important to remember

ATU Women’s Committee ReportBy Suzanne Hebrank

when you have a grievance withmanagement to have a shop stew-ard help you write your grievance.A grievance is a legal document,the way it is written definitely hasa bearing on the outcome of arbitra-tion. Our local has given some highquality classes to our shop stew-ards, please use them any time youspeak with management. We cov-ered “ just cause” as related to dis-cipline, and were given a list ofquestions to consider before andduring a first step hearing. I wasagain reminded that the best arbi-tration is the one settled at a firststep grievance hearing.

We heard many inspiringspeeches made by our InternationalOfficers, local politicians, and re-markable local women. The speakerI remember most was GoldieCriscuolo, President of the AtlantaChapter of the National Organiza-tion For Women. Ms. Criscuolo is asmall woman, well under 5 feet tall,who is in her 90’s. She has led aremarkable life so far and has livedthrough and participated in a lot ofunion history. She reminded us ofwhere we have come from and en-couraged us to continue to makelife better through political and so-cial action.

At our July meeting, we workedon the final details of the firstannual “Dancing To Beat CancerBash” which will be October 6,2001 from 6 to 9 pm. This dance isa family oriented event, with mu-sic being provided by KBSG- 97.3.We will have games, prizes, fingerfoods, and child care available. Itwill be held at the union hall andflyers should be up soon, if notnow. Tickets can be purchased inadvance from any Women’s Com-mittee member or at the door. Theprice is $8.00 for a single, $15.00per couple, and $25.00 for a fam-ily of up to 5 people. The proceedswill be donated to the AmericanCancer Society.

At our last meeting we welcomeda new member to our Women’s Com-mittee, April Quiñonez. April wasa Part-Time Operator who has re-cently hired on as an EquipmentService Worker in Vehicle Mainte-nance. We are thrilled to have amember from VM and hope to wel-come new members in the futurefrom other divisions. NatalieSilberman has rejoined us for thesummer also.

We sold raffle tickets at the unionpicnic. Aliana Warner was the

lucky winner of $79.00. We will beselling raffle tickets for a new 50/50pot draw at the bases and the Thurs-day night union meeting. If youwant to buy a ticket for $2.00 eachor 3 for $5.00, contact a Women’sCommittee member. Our currentmembers are: Tonya Gildon, KarrieTapscott (CO), SuzanneHebrank(RO), Kim Rochon, NatalieSilberman, Dee Wakenight (SO),Shirley Walker(AO), and AprilQuiñonez (CM) .

By Minority Affairs Officer Shirley Walker

4 August 2001

Letters to the Editor…

ATU VendingDear Editor:Why don’t we do our own vend-

ing machine service and “cut outthe middleman”? Instead of hold-ing so many fund raising events,we might have the money to spon-sor more events.

It would be easier than ever todo our own vending. To startwith, Costco’s business center inLynnwood sells most of the vend-ing items we buy from machines.They even sell the machines.They can deliver orders to all ofour worksites. If you shop Costco,you already know how good theirprices are when you buy in quan-tity. For example, Grandma’sCookies for which we pay 65 centsat the machine have a per unitcost of 23 cents at Costco.

I think we could take care ofall aspects of vending service.We could detail operators or cre-ate a new position responsiblefor stocking the machines. Rev-enue Coordinators (cashiers)could collect the money, and ourmechanics might be able to re-pair the machines, or we couldcarry a maintenance contract.

I don’t know if we have everconsidered doing our own vend-ing service before, but it seemsto me that it would be a win foreveryone, except our present ven-dor (sorry, Delicor!). It would bean excellent cooperative projectbetween our union and manage-ment. And with our contract ex-piring, this is a great time toconsider such a venture.

Fred Jennings #2394

Editor’s Response: I passedthis question on to FinancialSecretary Griffin, who respondedas follows: “Why don’t WE do ourown vending machines and cutout the Middle Man?” The areawhere the vending machines sitis rented annually from Metro/KC for a nominal fee. The rent-ing organization is calledMERAA. Metro Employees Rec-reational Activities Association.MERAA then shares 25% of the

profits with ATU Local 587’sSupport/Retiree Committee.The Support/Retiree Committeeuses the money to make chari-table contributions to retirees anddisabled persons and to buy flow-ers for ill retirees, or for retireefunerals. This issue is coveredin the METRO/ATU Local 587Labor Agreement.

The reason MERAA rents thespace is due to some twist in thelaw that organizations may notprofit by using public facilitiesfor private enterprise. MERAAgot it’s word in first many yearsago. In the absence of MERAA,ALL of the profits would have togo to the Lighthouse for the Blind.They are the second in line sub-ordinate, non profit, charitableorganization for King County.With the money from the pro-ceeds, MERAA hosts two big func-tions per year, an “employee” pic-nic and a Christmas Party. Ad-ditionally, MERAA pays for someitems in the operating bases.

Except for the clause in thelabor agreement, Page 18, Ar-ticle 3, Section 11, Paragraph Aand B, there is NO connectionsbetween Metro, Local 587, andthe vending machine company.Neither METRO nor Local 587contracts or negotiates with thevendor company. Negotiationswith the vendor company is doneby MERAA. And occasionally,the vendor company changes. Ifsomeone is interested in MERAAand how it operates they shouldget involved and run for a posi-tion on the MERAA board. Buteven after doing that, Local 587is not going to take over the careand feeding of the vending ma-chines. Even if MERAA ceasedto exist, Local 587 would NOTparticipate in managing thevending machines. First, be-cause we are a non-profit, taxexempt organization and cannotmake a profit. Second, and per-haps most importantly, it is KingCounty property and we do nothave the authority or freedom todo so.

With regards to fundraising,in the event that an OperatingBase Social/Events committee

decides that funding is neces-sary and holds a fund raisingevent, that is a base decision.MERAA and Local 587 are notpart of that decision. What wehave now is a well defined part-nership that is working. Ourcurrent system is a Win-Win-Winfor Metro, Local 587 Support/Retirees Group, MERAA, and allthe employees of METRO. Any-thing else is a LOSE-LOSE-LOSE.

ContractMr. President, brothers and

sisters of Local 587:

My name is Donna Whitehead,Utility Laborer with Facilities. Iam writing in concern for ourupcoming contract.

A C.D.L. is a job requirementjust like a transit operator, tokeep my job. How can that be?

I have to take a drug test justlike the transit operators. Howcan that be?

I have to keep myself in goodphysical condition to pass myphysical to keep my C.D.L. Howcan that be?

I have worked here 18 yearsand make less than $18.00 anhour. Mr. President, how canthat be?

Mr. President, I am request-ing the laborers be negotiatedseparately.

Local 17 has a tentative agree-ment with chiefs and supervi-sors for 100% medical. 3.5% raiseper year, and they get back payfrom 1996, for reclassification.

The Laborers should of gotback pay from 1996 with theirPDQ’s to be brought up to paritywith the laborers at King County.Mr. President, how can that be?

Mr. President, I am request-ing we get a $4.00 an hour raiseand 100% medical.

Mr. President, if we do not geta livable wage on this contract, Iwill be living in my car and pan-handling on the weekends tomake ends meet.

Mr. President, how can thatbe?

Donna Whitehead, #52647Lake Union Facilities

Editor’s note: Donna will bepleased to find out that UtilityLaborers are being negotiatedseparately to the extent that aspecial “equity adjustment “ re-quest is being prepared by theResearch committee based uponprevious input from Utility La-borers. Donna will be unhappy

NOTICE TO ALL READERS

Views andopinions

expressed inNews Reviewarticles arethose of the

authors and notnecessarily the

official positionof Local 587

SEND IN YOUR OPINIONS

Letters/contributions must includesignatures, work ID number, ad-dresses and telephone numbers thatcan be verified during office hours.Letters that cannot be validated willnot be published. All articles/let-ters are subject to editing and shouldbe limited to 350 words or less. Notall letters can be published due tospace limitations. Cut off date is the15th of each month. Send letters to:

Jennie Gil,News Review Editorc/o ATU Local 587

2700 First Avenue, Rm 204Seattle, WA 98121

to discover that the “100 %” ben-efits the chiefs enjoy are the sameas ours. For more information onbenefit negotiations see the ar-ticle titled “Benefit Of The Doubt-Benefits In Doubt”.

Editor’s Note: The followingeditorial was aired on KOMO 4News on July 20, 2001. Below itis a response sent in by memberRick Gleason. I wonder if BrotherGleason has heard back from Mr.Schram.

Forget Mass Transit,Fix The FreewaysBy Ken Schram

SEATTLE - Let’s cut to thechase.

Traffic and transportationhave to be dealt with. And theproblem is too big to fix by “cut-ting and pasting” the state bud-get. Anyone who says differentlyis fiscally delusional.

Nothing comes free. We’re go-ing to have to pay. The questionis how much, and for what.

Well, not for more HOV lanes.They may work great for momsand dads with kids, but theyaren’t worth squat for the on-the-way-to-work commuter.

Not for more mass transpor-tation studies. Mass transit is agood enough idea, but it’ll taketoo long and cost too much. Putmass transit on the back burnerand fix 405, 520, 167 and I-90.

Not for more park-and-rides.Metro is basically worthless andI’ll bet most of us are tired ofpoliticians using our tax dollarsto try and entice us out of ourcars.

I’m also tired of being made tofeel beholdin’ to our fellow citi-zens who live east of the moun-tains. They get more than theirfair share of state transporta-tion dollars, and we help pay fortheir federal farm subsidies.They need some extra economichelp over there, fine. We needsome extra help over here withtraffic. Let’s do it and quit belly-aching.

If the state is going to put itshand back in our pockets, thepoliticians better first get theirheads out of.... whereever theirheads are at.

Let’s cut to the chase. Startfixing traffic without the empha-sis being mass transit, park andrides, and HOV lanes.

Editorial Response:

Mr. Schram,

August 2001 5

Letters to the Editor…

You wrote in your July20th editorial entitled “ForgetMass Transit, Fix the Freeways”about the “fiscally delusional.”Later you describe the MetroTransit system as “basicallyworthless.”

Tell that to the thousands ofpeople who daily depend on thebus system to get them not onlyto their places of employment,but to the grocery store, to school,to visit their families and amyriad of other destinations. Ihave driven for Metro for tenyears and I see these people andtalk with them on a daily basis.Many of our passengers are lowincome, physically challengedand include our youth and theelderly with no other alternativemode of transportation. Thesesame people, as well as visitorsto our city, regularly expresstheir gratitude to us for the greatsystem that it is. I personallyuse Metro when shopping andtaking my children to Marinergames and other excursions inthe city, although I own my owncar and live in another commu-nity. It’s convenient and cer-tainly beats dealing with the traf-fic and parking problems. Dur-ing my career Metro has twicebeen rated the top transit sys-tem in all of North America.

Yes, the system isn’t perfect,and of course it could be better.But so could KOMO 4 News!To label Metro as “worthless,”points out who among us is re-

ally “delusional.”

Let’s “cut to the chase” Mr.Schram. When was the last timeyou rode a Metro bus and spokeone-on-one with these people Idescribe? I invite you to ridealong with me some afternoonand talk more about this sub-ject. Take some time to speak tothose who depend on Metro forthings you and I take forgranted. While you’re at it thankyour lucky stars, just as I do,that you are privileged enoughthat you don’t have to depend onothers for your basic transporta-tion needs.

I believe you owe the thou-sands of us that dedicate ourlives daily to making Metro whatit is, and working earnestly to-ward improving it, an apology.It probably won’t be forthcom-ing, but consider this: Far fromwhat you describe as “basicallyworthless” we provide a neededand irrefutable necessaryservice. Without us commercewould grind to a halt and withinthis community gridlock, in ev-ery fashion and form, would pre-vail. What do you offer thissame citizenry other than yourunavailing opinion?

I have a broadcast journalismdegree and spent more than adecade working in the broadcastnews business, including televi-sion as a reporter, producer andanchor. Take it from me, Mr.Schram, you need to step down

from your lofty perch and get ataste of reality.

Hoping to hear from you.

Rick Gleason, #3455Central Base

Fare Cheater PolicyDear Editor:

I drive the last 307 out toWoodinville of the night and Ihave an occasional passengerwho regularly cheats on her fare.She had a temporary reducedfare permit that expired in Dec.2000. I have had many conver-sations with her about her mis-use of her pass and have writtenseveral security incident reportson her. Since she rides on a veryinfrequent basis, I can never pre-dict when she is going to ride.Several weeks ago, I had heragain and called the coordinatorand asked if he could send somehelp my way. He said no, whichis not surprising considering thatwe are talking about 12:45 AMin the Northgate area. I tookher home, punched the #3 but-ton and submitted another re-port. On July 3, she rode again.I once again informed her thather pass was not good to whichshe again replied that she hadno other way to get home and satdown. Total conversation prob-ably lasted less than 45 seconds.I called in again and the coordi-nator said no problem, help is on

the way. The D-Car {DaleBailey} and four SPD unitsshowed up within five minutes.The D-Car came onto the busand talked to the lady for abouta minute and left the bus withthe lady’s pass in his posses-sion. I then had to explain tohim why the pass was invalidand my history dealing with thepassenger. One of the SPD offic-ers asked what I wanted to hap-pen and I replied that I wantedthe lady’s pass to be confiscated,the lady to be informed of theconfiscation and that I wouldtake her home. After about tenminutes, the D-Car agreed to thisand I took the lady home. Shegot off with no problems and Iarrived at the Woodinville PRfive minutes late.

When I got back to the base Iwrote a security report, attach-ing her pass to the report. Endof Story? Not Quite. The D-Carwrote me a PR because of thisincident. My Base Chief issuedthe PR and was very clear thatthe reason for it was the act ofcalling the coordinator on a faredispute. The fact that this was arepeat offender that had beendocumented several times didnot matter. If this is trulyMetro’s attitude towards farecollection and support of theirdrivers, I am appalled as a driver,a taxpayer and as a voter.

Carey Watson #1911North Base

Some Picnic Photos…

Above: Leo and Elizabeth Godinez and theirdaughters enjoy their meal. Photo submittedby Ed Carter Right: Chris and Angela Wick

with children Nathan andSamantha. Photo submitted

by Paul Griffin

6 August 2001

SATURDAY, JULY 14TH WAS THE

day for the event of themillennium. ATU Local

587 held its annual picnic at Lin-coln Park. Even the West SeattleStreet Fair couldn’t cut in on ourfun. We had the opportunity tomeet with our co-workers in anon-work setting and even meetsome of their families. Our hori-zons were also expanded by thechance to meet new friends fromother work locations and transitagencies. Many retirees showedup to let us know first hand howthey have been doing since retire-ment. We had a surprise visit bysome of our areas’ celebrities, theSeafair Pirates. They landedright at our picnic site and pro-ceeded to join in the festivities tothe delight and amazement of allpresent.

There was also a surprise birth-day celebration for PresidentLance Norton, who is not tellingwhich birthday this one was. Ibelieve we really did surprise him,

Maybe even next year…A PicnicCommittee report

By Dee Wakenight

as we had been keeping him busyon the grill for most of the timebefore the cake arrived.

The raffle was a great success.Our grand prize was a $500.00gift card for the Bon Marche, agood Union store. The rationalebehind a gift card was that thewinner could choose somethingthey really needed or wanted, asopposed to getting what someoneelse had chosen at random. Therewere many great prizes raffled offand members did not need to bepresent to win. Subsequentlythere were many prizes drawn formembers who had to go to work.Following is a list of memberswho won a prize and need to makearrangements to pick up theirprize at the union office:

All prizes will be held for sixtydays and then raffled off at themembership meetings as part ofthe pot draw.

A very special thank you to allthe volunteers who made thisevent happen. This list includes,but not limited to: Liz White,James Reese, Ron Dunn, LarryMoss, Mr. And Mrs. Bill Harding,Mike Haley, Jerry Kahn, ChrisWick, Cathy Donalds, Ben Apo,Howard Gorlick, Debbie Green,Ed Carter, Milton Merkle, LisaNault, Liz and Leo Godinez, GeneAllen, Steve Webb, PrakashChand, Executive Board OfficersDee Wakenight, Linda Anderson,Paul Bachtel, Brian Sherlock, andto our President, Vice President,Financial Secretary and Record-ing Secretary for also taking theirturn at the grill or the registra-tion table or the raffle or just plain

old hauling and toting. Pleasepardon any omission. There weremany who stepped forth and wedid not always get all the names.

Executive Board Officer LisaCarter, Facilities Representative,was roped into the position of co-chair for this years’ picnic by Presi-dent Norton. I am sure thatwithout her this event would havenever happened. Thank You Lisa.

Officers, Shop Stewards, mem-bers, retirees, without all of you,there would have been no amountof planning or preparation thatwould have made this event cometogether. Together we all madethe event of the millennium a re-ality. For those of you who at-tended, thank you for coming andsharing the fun and festivities.Who knows, Local 587 might de-cide to do this kind of thing again,maybe even next year.

Angelina EllebyCesario MarquezDan McLungDavid MooreDiana OlullenGeorge AragonGeorge ShieldsHoang Tran

James Wade (Ret.)John MurrowLarry LansiaLuther HuntMike HaleyMike QuereeMike StarrRC Rothwell

Robert EdwardsRodney Vandervaart

Suzanne BurgessWarren Yee

The SeaFair Pirates joined thecrowd for some added fun andexcitement. Photo submitted byPaul Griffin

President Norton cuts a piece of birth-day cake. Photo by Paul Griffin

Michael Grady, President Nortonand Ritchie Goltsch take a breakafter the exhausting raffle. Photosubmitted by Paul Griffin

Prakash Chand leads the kids in a sack race. Thank you BrotherPrakash for stepping forth and volunteering to lead games. Photosubmitted by Paul Griffin

Prakash Chand and MiltonMerkle arrive to lend a hand.Photo submitted by Paul Griffin

Howard Gorlick lectures PaulBachtel on proper burger turning.Photo submitted by Paul Griffin

Foodline.jpg: Milt Merkle, Cathy Donalds, Debbie Green, Ben Apo and PaulBachtel work the foodline like pros. Photo submitted by Paul Griffin

This picnic is so much fun wecome no matter what shape we’rein! photo submitted by Ed Carter

“Are you sure this will improvemy reception?” Greg Patterson

gets the latest in cell phonetechnology. Photo submitted by

Paul Griffin

Mayoral candidate Greg Nickelsstops in to chat it up with themembers. Here he and PresidentNorton talk with Executive BoardOfficer Brian Sherlock. Bet theirtalking Gillig mirrors! Photosubmitted by Paul Griffin

August 2001 7

8 August 2001

Contract Update

Y our officers have beenmeeting with Metro/KingCounty representatives

Rick Walsh, Mary Peterson, JimPatrick, and King County LaborNegotiator Rick Hayes going

through Articles 1 through 14.Currently we are about half waythrough those articles. Bothsides have submitted their revi-sions and/or proposed modifica-tions to existing language, aswell as both sides tentativelyagreeing which sections are ac-ceptable as written. As we allknow, of course, everything issubject to change until the en-tire thing is signed off on. Sub-committees from all classifica-tions have been meeting withtheir respective departmentmanagers and their teams inorder to narrow the issues andnegotiate the specifics within

The President’s Reportby Lance F. Norton

Lance F. Norton

their classification’s sections.Talks have been amicable andwe remain optimistic that thiswill continue.

PicnicWe have a wonderful group of

members here at Local 587. Thisyear’s picnic committee co-chairs, Executive Board OfficersDee Wakenight and Lisa Carter,put the call out for volunteershoping for a few folks to stepforth. So many members steppedup to help our committee chairsput on this summer feast that allwent extremely well. As manyas we were able to get names for

will be acknowledged. I want topersonally thank Dee and Lisafor all the hard work and effortthey put in to making sure all ofour members, their families, andguests were well fed and had awonderful time. Unless you haverun a picnic of the size we put on,or have been on the committee,very few know how much workgoes into it. We received so manycompliments on how well runand organized it all was. All thecredit belongs to Dee, Lisa, andthose who assisted. My thanksto all of you. We enjoyed a record-setting attendance of our mem-bers, and all who came, enjoyed.

Benefit of the doubt orbenefits in doubt

By Glen A. Travis

The Vice President’s Report

WHILE THE FULL TIME OFFIC-ers are engaged in theMetro-KC negotia-

tions, the ‘Joint Labor Manage-ment Insurance Committee’(JLMIC) continues discussionsabout benefits for all KingCounty employees. Our contractadopts whatever this committeecreates but allows us to negoti-ate separately if we choose. Weget two bites at the apple so tospeak. First, as the largest unionrepresenting County workers weare a vocal part of this commit-tee. After it has concluded nego-tiations for everyone else’s ben-efits, we can go ahead and nego-tiate on our own if we so choose.

GOOD NEWS. BAD NEWS.That’s the good news. The bad

news is that the County has a lotof motivation to make sure weget less if we break off individu-ally, and the economies of scalebring a greater opportunity forbenefit improvements in the com-mittee representing all 13,000County workers as compared to3200 transit workers alone.

This negotiation is compli-cated by several factors. First isthe County’s claim that the rev-enues are now going south dueto I-695 coming home to roostand local communities incorpo-rating. Management says theCounty is tens of millions of dol-lars in the red. Of course wehave reason to believe that tran-sit revenues are in good shapeafter the County increased the

sales tax. Numbers can and willalways be argued.

BEST CHOICEIf we separate ourselves to

negotiate based on the revenues,we face the backlash from theCounty for reducing their econo-mies of scale and trying to stepabove the standard of benefitsprovided to all other employees.Yet this may be our best choice.

Why? Arbitration. We havethe right to arbitrate. The onlyother County union that has sucha right is the Sheriffs’ union.Guess what: in spite of the econo-mies of scale the Sheriffs are noton the same benefits plan as ev-eryone else. Theirs is better! Butthe obvious catch is the willing-ness to go to arbitration, andthe ability to convince an arbi-trator that we should also have abetter plan. This relies heavilyon “comparables” and our Re-search Committee still has lotsof work to do to determine ifarbitration is our best option.Aaaaaaand! Don’t forget that ar-bitration would undoubtedly in-clude many other items includ-ing all the takeaways manage-ment might propose. All in all itis a complicated and difficultdecision that will include morefactors than mentioned here.

BENEFIT OPTIONSThe JLMIC is now discussing

benefit changes. After present-ing hours of gloomy explanationon skyrocketing medical infla-tion, the County proposed sixpages titled “Suggested CostReduction Measures.” These in-clude:

• reducing the number ofplans available;

• doubling or even quadru-pling current deductibles;

• shifting the coinsurance sothat you pay up to 40% on every-thing;

• increasing the copays onHMOs from $10 to as much as$40 per office visit;

• increasing Rx copays up toas much as $15 generic and $30brand name;

• eliminate double coverageof two County employees;

• and add a new wellness pro-gram.

MEDFLATIONThese are all proposals the

County has listed as options. Noone in management expects thewhole list to be implemented.But have no doubt that the highcost of benefits has managementon a serious quest for cost reduc-tions, and since the “med-flation”is a national problem which isoutside of the County’s control,we are their only potential sourceof savings. What do they seri-ously want? It’s still hard to say.

Keeping the current level ofbenefits will increase Countycosts an additional $25,000,000over what was previously bud-geted for next year. The proposalto increase deductibles from $50to $100 will save the county lessthan $1,000,000 per year. Somanagement is intent on mak-ing multiple changes to savemoney.

SICK LEAVE VERIFICATIONThe good news is that this is a

negotiation. The County mustget an agreement. The unions,including ours, have proposalsincluding the elimination of un-necessary office visits to get sickleave verifications. However itwould be good to remember thatdoubling the deductibles barelytouches the “deficit”, so stoppingthe verification form will notserve as some silver bullet. Itshould, however, be part of aneffort to cut costs instead of sim-ply shifting the outrageous in-creases to the back of workers.

Maybe we will all have to getsick for management to get thepoint?

Glen A. Travis

…management is intent onmaking multiple changes to

save money.

August 2001 9

Democracy at workby Financial Secretary/Treasurer Paul L. Griffin

The Financial Secretary’s Report

Paul Griffin

DEMOCRACY AS A MEANS OF

making decisions workswhen a group of individu-

als agree to abide by the collectivedecisions without compromisingindividual rights. This says agreat deal. It says that all of uswho agree to be part of a unionmay disagree on the process ofmaking decisions about variousissues, but once a decision is made,we will abide by that decision.

This is much like elections.Once a candidate is declared win-ner/leader, that individual be-comes leader even for those whovoted for someone else or arehighly critical of the winner. Andthe critics have the right to dis-agree without fear of retaliationfrom the leader. What the criticsdo not have is the right to imple-ment a different decision thanwhat the group agreed upon. Forexample, a labor agreement hasbeen blessed by the majority, buta particular individual is not al-lowed to write a unique, separatecontract with management, thuspossibly compromising the rightsof other individuals. Conversely,no document produced by the lead-ership of the majority can be imple-mented without the majority’sapproval.

Clearly Democracy is a lot ofwork and requires the participa-tion of many people of good will.And just like good manners are aseries of small sacrifices, par-ticipation in the democratic pro-cess requires a series of smallsacrifices. And it takes time.Possibly years.

Our union, the AmalgamatedTransit Union, is an organizationwhose members, over many years,have exercised their right to par-ticipatory democracy. Over many

years “we”, starting back with ourforefathers, have developed a pro-cess of decision-making that seemsto work well for the majority. Wehave a central collection or au-thority that issues charters to “lo-cal” divisions. Each local electstheir individual leaders and allconduct their business specific toconditions at their location, inaccordance to their own bylawsyet in compliance with the Inter-national Constitution. While themajority of union business is per-formed at the local level, the Con-stitution provides for a “comingtogether” every three years to con-duct the business of the largerbody. We call this gathering theInternational Convention.

At the International Conven-tion large decisions that affect allunion members are made. Theprocess is an interesting exercisein democracy. The AmalgamatedTransit Union’s InternationalConvention this year will havenearly 600 delegates in attendancefrom across the United States andCanada. Clearly this is too largea group for every individual toparticipate fully and completelyon every decision no matter howlarge or small. Therefore, thereare sub-committees that have re-sponsibility for various issues. Atthe sub-committee level smallernumbers of delegates discuss is-sues and arrive at decisions orrecommendations for the body ofthe whole to vote on.

Local 587 President LanceNorton will serve on the LawsCommittee at the upcoming Con-vention. This committee reviewsthe issues coming before the Con-vention and makes sure we andthe other committees conduct theirresponsibilities consistent with

the Constitution. My favorite com-mittee is the Resolutions Com-mittee. Resolutions which call forpositions or action on various is-sues by the union leadership aresent to the Resolutions Commit-tee. This includes making recom-mendations for any modificationsto our International Constitutionand Bylaws. The power of debatein these committees is real demo-cratic power. Recommendationsfrom the Resolutions Committeego before the entire delegation thateither votes concurrence or not.Votes to the affirmative becomethe policy and practice of the en-tire ATU membership.

Often members at the locallevel ask, “Why attend?” First,it is required in our Constitu-tion. Attendance was part of thequid pro quo when the local waschartered. It is a responsibilityof participatory democracy, oneof those small sacrifices. Mem-bers sometimes ask, “Cannot thiswait until after negotiations?”No matter when the conventionis scheduled there are alwayslocals elsewhere engaged in ne-gotiations. There just isn’t a“good time”. Another small sac-rifice. “But it costs money”. Sodo “we”, meaning Local 587. Ev-erything has a trade off. If itwasn’t for the combined energyof “the union” you can bet that

employers would divide and con-quer until individuals were paidless and employers would spendless on benefits. Only the mostselfish individual or someonewho is totally intolerant andnarrow-minded fails to under-stand and appreciate the ben-efits of union membership.Sometimes each of us has tomake a small sacrifice (called“dues”) to realize a larger gain.And then the dues are investedin the process of conducting busi-ness, which include democraticactivities such as conventions.

Being a democratic organiza-tion that provides for ALL theparticipants, including the crit-ics, without comprising the rightsof individuals, even the narrow-minded and selfish, your unionwill continue to meet its respon-sibilities. Your elected represen-tatives will be headed to Torontoin September to participate inthe ATU International Conven-tion. A few are attending for thefirst time. Others have attendedseveral. All of your delegationwill participate in the events andassigned committees, and votewhen necessary. The Interna-tional Convention only comesaround once every three yearsand we will make the most of it.Because, after all, We are all inthis Together.

More Picnic

Right: Mike andKim Rochon and

their prizeddoormat. Or is

that doormatprize? Photosubmitted byPaul Griffin

At the International Conventionlarge decisions that affect all

union members are made.

Left: “Is thathow this goes?”Brother RonDunn helps setup the food line.Photo submittedby Paul Griffin

10 August 2001

Jennie Gil

IT’S TIME TO PICK. WHAT DOES

that mean? What do youmean I have to show up?

What happens if I don’t showup? But I have to have an a.m.piece of work! After all, I hiredon to be an a.m. driver! But it’smy time to pick right now, whatdo you mean I have to wait?These and other questions havecome up time and time again.Hopefully this will give somebasic information to make itthrough the upcoming pick.

The first and foremost thing anew part time Operator needs toknow is to show up on time. Se-niority lists are out at theworksites. You are allowed intothe pick room twenty minutesahead of your pick time to lookaround. When you arrive, do notwait to be called into the room,check in at the front door. Ifthings are not going well, or thereis some problem with the pick,you may be asked to wait out-side, possibly even after your picktime. Just be patient.

Restriction formsOne of the biggest problems

we have with part time pick isover restrictions forms. As apart timer, you have the right torestrict to either a.m. or p.m.work. You do not get to restrictto base, route or report times.Restrictions amount to usurp-ing the seniority of those aheadof you who did not have the needto restrict, so the Union takesthese forms very seriously. Alldeadlines for restriction formsare strictly followed. The pickcrew verifies the information onthe forms. An a.m. restrictionform is for those who MUST havea.m. work, and a p.m. restrictionform is for those who MUST havep.m. work. Please make sureyou use the correct form. If yousubmit a restriction form and wereach lockout, you will be re-quired to honor that restriction.

Lockout is when there is theexact number of slots for eithera.m. or p.m. as there are restric-tion forms. For example, if wehave 100 a.m. slots availablesystem-wide, and 100 restrictionforms on file, we go into a.m.lockout. This means that unlessyou have a restriction form sub-mitted for that shakeup, youmay not pick a.m. work, re-gardless of your seniority. Ifsomething comes up after yousubmit your form, you need tocontact the pick coordinator orthe Recording Secretary and re-scind your restriction form. Youmay rescind a form all the wayup to if and when we go intolockout. Usually it’s a.m. goesfirst, but we have had occasion

where we hit p.m. lockout, ordon’t get to a.m. lockout untilalmost the very end of pick. Butone never knows. If you have arestriction, PLEASE, fill out andsubmit a form.

How to do a no-showpick

There are many, many rea-sons people do not make it topick on time, most are unfore-seen circumstances beyond ourcontrol. Traffic is often a cul-prit. Part-time pick is held inthe Central Base quiet room.Central Base is located just downthe street from the baseball sta-dium. Soon there will be a foot-ball stadium there as well. Pickoften runs concurrently withother civic events. Factor in anyspecial events occurring at thestadium and plan to arrive early.

If there is even the slightestdoubt you may not arrive in timefor your pick, submit an absen-tee pick form prior to pick. Theabsentee form will only be usedif you do not report to the pickroom in person. If you do notmake it in person, and you havenot turned in an absentee pickform, and you’re not luckyenough to reach the pick room bytelephone just prior to your pickoccurring, a union representa-tive will pick for you.

The union has a long-stand-ing policy to make a no-showpick based on your current as-signment. If you do not arrive byten minutes prior to your sched-uled pick time, your pick sheet ishanded off to the union repre-sentative, who will look up yourcurrent assignment. We use theten minute mark because it cantake time to research an assign-ment, and we do keep pick goingon schedule. If your current as-signment is open, it will be pickedfor you. If it is not open there arecertain guidelines and restric-tions used to pick for a no-showwith no absentee pick form onfile. As the union rep does notknow why you picked the assign-ment you currently have and/orwhether you may have a conflictwith a second job or a daycareissue, the union representativewill usually select work that re-ports on or after your currentreport time and quits on or be-fore your current quit time. Youwill be placed at your currentbase as long as it is still open,and if not, at the base closest, ifat all possible. Due to theseguidelines and restrictions, of-ten the tripper picked is sub-stantially shorter than the trip-per you could have picked your-self. Occasionally there is noinformation available as to whatyou are currently working andoften there are no similar as-

signments left, especially as weget on down the seniority list. Ifthere is time and an open phoneline, the union rep may attemptto call you, but if the pick sheetsdo not list your current address/phone number, and the currentassignment sheets do not listyour current assignment, theunion representative has littlerecourse other than to pick anassignment completely at ran-dom.

Once the union rep picks yourassignment it may not bechanged if you arrive late. Onoccasion, if you arrive immedi-ately after the union has pickedfor you, AND, if the people whohave picked below you are stillin the room, the pick may bestopped and your piece offeredto those who picked behind youif you are so very opposed toworking it. But this slows downthe pick and is not a popularoption with those behind you.And while you may be allowed togive up your piece and choosesomething else, the pick still goeson around you and those withlesser seniority who did arriveon time will continue makingtheir selections. If, however,even one person below you thathas already picked has left the

room, your pick will not be al-tered for any reason. A secondrecourse for those who did notarrive in time to pick and findtheir union-picked work heinousis to hang tight till the next moveup.

Last but not least, Article 16,Section 5, Paragraph “E”, on page96 of the Labor Agreement,states in part: “Selections madeby the UNION will not be sub-ject to the grievance/arbitrationprocedure.” Your union repre-sentatives are only human. Inyour absence they did the bestthey could given the circum-stances they had to work with,and the union will not be heldliable for any picks made forsomeone who could not or didnot show up to do their own pick.

If you still have questions,please contact the pick room dur-ing preview week, or go downthere and ask. Preview week forfall shakeup is August 13through 17, in the Central/At-lantic quiet room, and the num-ber is (206) 684-2697. If there isno one available, you may alsocontact me at (206) 448-8588, orsend me your question throughemail at gil@atu587.com. Pickcommences August 18th. Hope tosee you there…..on time.

Part time Shakeup 101By Recording Secretary Jennie Gil

The Recording Secretary’s Report

Part-time Pick—Don’t Call Us

And We Won’t Call You!

ANEW TREND SEEMS TO BE

developing in the part-time pick room. More

operators are electing to phonethe pick room at their desig-nated pick time rather thanattending the pick in person.Telephone picking works fineas long as the pick is runningon schedule and the phone lineis not busy. The pick can bedelayed for any number of rea-sons, and if a delay occurs yourdesignated pick time willchange to whenever yourname is reached on the se-niority list. If the pick is de-layed or if the phone line isbusy, telephone picking canbe a nightmare.

During our most recentpart-time pick a significantdelay occurred and the phoneline became clogged with op-

By Executive Board Officer Paul Bachtel

erators trying to phone thepick room to determine theirpick time. There was no wayfor the pick crew to give a de-finitive answer as to when aparticular scheduled pickwould actually occur. All thatcould be done was to suggestthe operator call back in ten orfifteen minutes. Cell phoneshave exacerbated the problemwith broken scratchy calls thatfurther jam the single phoneline available in the pickroom.

PLEASE!! Don’t try to pickby phone unless you absolutelyhave to. Come to part-timepick on time and in person.If there is any possibility youmay not arrive on time, it is inyour best interest to submitan absentee pick form prior tothe start of pick.

August 2001 11

IT’S BEEN AWHILE SINCE YOU’VE

heard from us so we wouldlike to bring you up to speed

on what’s been happening. Weare now back up to fully electedstrength now that Mike is backon the job, the pack is back.

CARS-On Saturday June16th, Metro held its Rodeo andthe 14th King County EmployeesAuto Show. The Rodeo had over50 people sign up to run theseven-minute course. Includedwere people from Tri-Met and C-Tran. For the most part Opera-tors were the majority. WhereVM made a strong showing wasthe employees’ car show. 26 carsand trucks, 2 motorcycles andone 1968 GMC bus #724 were onview for all to see. There wasalso a special showing of RickSepolen’s private collection ofaround 25 cars. He was able topack them all into the back of hisIsuzu Trooper at the end of theshow. The final outcome ofawards in the car show was domi-nated by VM. The first categorywas Participant’s Choice. Frankand Pam Lorenzen won FirstPlace with their 1950 Buick Con-vertible. Pam works at KingStreet in VM. Second Place wentto “Bad Boy” Greg Springer, aVM Mechanic, and his 1967Camaro muscle car. As most ofyou in VM know this has been atopic of discussion wheneverGreg is around. In the People’sChoice category, first place wentto Roy and Shelly Martinson with

Cars, Contract and Constitutional ChangesBy Mike Whitehead, John Bellinger & Mike Rochon

their 1923 Ford “Tall T”. Royand Shelly both work in VM.Second place went to MikeWhitehead from VM in his bor-rowed 1931 Chevy Coupe…

CONTRACT-The VM con-tract committee has finished uptheir work and started negotiat-ing the VM section of the laboragreement. This time around weare doing things a little differ-ently than last time. Last nego-tiations everything was negoti-ated at the table with the corecommittee. This time we aremeeting separately with VMmanagement and will take ourchanges and then bump them upto the core team. We will only befocusing on the working condi-tions in the VM section of thecontract… Any money issues aregoing to be automaticallybumped up to the core commit-tee to be negotiated there. Re-cently, Recording SecretaryJennie Gil put out a memo ask-ing that any classification thatfelt equity adjustments were jus-tified, to please submit theirjustifiers (i.e.; wage comparisons,class/comp study, technologicalchanges to your job) to the Unionoffice. We want to encourage anyand all classifications that haveconcerns and feel they deserveequity adjustments to forwardthis information.

C O N S T I T U T I O N A LCHANGES-Currently there is abylaw change submitted byJennie Gil that will be broughtbefore the membership at theAugust meeting. This change inArticle IV covers the Shop Stew-ards Committee, JTA Shop Stew-ards, CTS Shop stewards, CPTSShop Stewards, SPT Shop Stew-ards, MV Shop Stewards, MVTransportation, and finallyMetro/King County Shop Stew-ards. For the most part thechanges are house keeping thatcurrently reflect the way we dobusiness. One of the changes inthe bylaw proposal will affectthe way we nominate Shop Stew-ards. Currently you can nomi-nate yourself, or a member cannominate you. This practice willstop if this bylaw passes. In ourfirst term in office your VM E-Board officers took on the task of

nominating members. We ac-tively went out to members andasked you to get involved. Thisworked well, because in the be-ginning of our term there wereless than a hand full of ShopStewards in VM. We knew wecouldn’t be everywhere at once,and what we needed was eyesand ears at all of our worksitesthat we could network with. Wefelt that we needed to build astrong shop steward program inVM by recruiting and encourag-ing members to be involved. It’sworked very well; currently weare at our maximum amount ofstewards per base, with a fewexceptions. A few times we didnominate a member, and maybea month or two after our conver-sation with them, when the newshop steward list came out, themember would have secondthoughts and drop out. This iswhere the problem lies in ourconversations with the Record-ing Secretary. This would add

extra work and put Jennie in atight spot. She felt that by onlyhaving the person who wants tobe a shop steward nominatethemselves it would simplify theprocess. We feel that the way it’sbeen done in the past workedjust fine and there isn’t a need tochange this part of the process.And why is this change only di-rected at Metro shop stewardnominations? Her bylaw pro-posal still allows for all otherproperties represented by 587 tostill be nominated by other mem-bers. We think that for the fewtimes this occurs that it’s reallyno big deal. So if it ain’t brokedon’t fix it. What comes to mindright now is the saying ‘The Roadto Hell is Paved with Good In-tentions”. So I guess we need toapologize to Jennie and all ofthose members who changedtheir mind, we were only tryingto serve our members and makea stronger Union in VM,…SORRY…NOT!…

IN THE BEGINNING, CLERKS WERE

to maintain a variety of VMwork order records on a main-

frame computer system, verify andsubmit VM employee time slips topayroll, answer phone and routecalls, take messages, maintainstock of office supplies and forms,plus other related duties in sup-port of the Chief of Vehicle Main-tenance. Today, our job consistsof all of the above plus workingand usable knowledge of no lessthan 7 to 10 computer programsand reports. This fall we will geta new responsibility, thePeopleSoft System. This meanswe will be RESPONSIBLE for theentering of all the information forYOUR checks! This has been aprogram that has been and still iscomplicated, complex and de-manding.

There was a classification/com-pensation study conducted in 1996by King County and the clerksasked that our classification bereviewed. In doing so, it was con-curred that the appeal request begranted and King County recom-mended that we be reclassifiedfrom TIPS (Technical InformationProcessing Specialist) II to TIPSIII in 1998. The reason for thisreclassification had to do with thelaw: equal pay for equal work. Ifwe work for another agency withinKing County, we would be paidmore for the same work. We wereactually reclassified technically asTIPS III, but without the pay atthis time. The recommendationnever happened, as it was notbrought to the table during thelast negotiations so the pay ad-justment was never made.

We believe that technology

The Clerk SagaBy Pat Prince, Shannon Nale and Sylvia Betts

change has had and will have amuch greater impact on our clas-sification. We are asking ourUnion Brothers and Sisters thatare negotiating for our classifica-tion to consider this among theissues when you are at the nego-tiation table. We should receivethe wages for this TIPS III classi-fication.

Now, many of you may wonderhow we became Senior Clerks.This came about because of a griev-ance and resulted in a Memoran-dum of Agreement (MOA) betweenKing County Metro Transit andthe Amalgamated Transit UnionLocal 587. The reason being wasthat King County was unable tohire applicants that could meetthe current qualifications for suchlow wages. So they moved theclerks from the IntermediateClerk salary to the Senior Clerksalary. However, in doing so, theclerks at step E previously weremoved to step D of the new salaryrange. This new salary step pro-gression will remain in effect un-til December 31, 2001 unless theMOA is extended by mutual agree-ment by all parties, or a new wagerate is negotiated during the con-tract negotiations.

The addendum to the MOA doesstate that the title change and jobdescription for VM IntermediateClerks needs to be brought up todate and changed to TIPS III. Alsothe technological/equity pay ad-justment needs to reflect not onlyfair market value for King County,but also reflect the salary of thosein the outside job market whowould be applying for work atMetro/King County.

Pam Lorenzen's 1950 Buick on the left, center is Roy and ShellyMartinson's 1923 Purple Ford "T". To the right of that in the back rowis the red chev I entered. Photo submitted by Mike Whitehead.

The beauty on the left is GregSpringer's second place winnerin the Participant's Choicecategory, a blue, 1967 Camaromuscle car. Photo submitted byMike Whitehead.

12 August 2001

You are invited to join us at any of our regular get-togethers.

Charter Meeting – first Thursday of each month. Union Hall – 1st Avenue and CedarStreet – 1:00 p.m. Next meeting: August 2nd

Every Tuesday – Breakfast at Mr. Bill’s on North 130th Street – _ block west of Aurora –7:00 a.m. Next meetings: August 7th, 14th, 21st, 28th

First Saturday of each month – Breakfast at Colonial Pantry – Firdale Village on North205th Street – about _ of a mile west of Aurora – 7:00 a.m. Next meeting: August 4th

Second Wednesday of each month – Lunch – Andy’s Diner on 4th Avenue South – South ofLander Street – 11:00 a.m. Next meeting: August 8th

RetiredOr about to be?

Retiree’sCorner

IHAVE RECEIVED A COMMUNI-cation from Lance Pierceinforming me that he has

moved into a retirement facilityin Edmonds, Washington.[Please call the union office forhis address and phone number.I know he would like calls andvisitors.]

At the breakfast at the Colo-nial Pantry on the 2nd of June Iwas pleased to see RogerRenando, Service Supervisor,in attendance. Roger is the lat-est retiree to retire from Tran-sit. Roger came over to Transitback in 1973 when Seattle Tran-sit and Metropolitan Transitmerged to form Metro Transit.Bob Allison, Clint Heinzenand Dick Amos are the latestto retire from Transit.

I received a call from LarryBark, retired Base Chief. Larrypromised to be at the next Me-chanics/Supervisors luncheon atAndy’s Diner on the 11th of July.I also had a call from MauriceWilkinson. Maurice made thesame trip to Australia duringWW 2 [that I talked about lastmonth]. When I made the tripwe were transporting three se-cret airplanes, the North Ameri-can P-61, Black Widow nightfighters. Maurice said his ship,the U.S.S. Fanshaw Bay, weretransporting P-38 fighters…

I was very pleased to see thatthe attendance at the ColonialPantry has sky rocketed to 15 at

the breakfast on July 7, 2001.I received a nice card with a

picture of Alki Point Light Housefrom Bruce Tiebout, (part timeoperator, North Base) He passedalong a few words of praise onmy last article. I’m not sure if hesaw it in the ARSCE paper or onthe Internet. A few words ofpraise are always welcome.Thanks Bruce! Now I know thatsomeone is reading my articles.I am very pleased that Local 587has included “The View FromThe Buses” in the News Review.[You can also find it on the webat http://www.atu587.com/retireecorner.html]

I received a phone call fromReinhold Nicklaus from downin Lacey, Washington. Nick livesa short way from ErvinBrueckner and the two of themare planning a trip to visit BobSokol, who now lives in Morton,Washington. Nick is in his earlyeighties, and is getting along justfine. I received a nice note fromR.C. Rothwell (active) about theaddition of this [column] …inthe News Review, Local 587 pub-lication…

I was attending a fiftieth wed-ding anniversary celebration ofPaul and Flora Trippitt, andran into Remo Armstrong. Paulwas Manager of the Power sec-tion at Metro and Remo was Su-pervisor of Power. Both are re-tired from Metro. Also on thesame day I ran into Roger

Higbee(active). Roger’s motherwas retiring from being the or-ganist at the church I attendafter serving there for fortyyears.

Bill Daniels and wife Billiewere in town for several days inthe middle of July. Bill and wifereside in Taylor, Arizona. Billmade an appearance at thebreakfast at Mr. Bill’s for theTuesday morning. Bill said thathe would be visiting with DuaneMier later on that day. Duanenow lives in Winthrop, Wash-ington. It is always good to seeBill. At the same breakfast Maryand Tom Lile informed me thatthey have visited with Mike andMarilyn Carr up in theBellingham area. It is nice tohear from the retirees and findout they are visiting one anotherin their travels.

Binnacle ListI received a call from Don

Cook via cell phone and he in-formed me that he had been inthe Veterans Hospital for sev-eral days. Don was under goingseveral medical procedures andexpected to be sent home soonand should be up and about bythe time this article is out. War-ren Jones has also been down,suffering from several heart at-tacks. Warren is expected to bereleased from the hospital soon.Best wishes and good health toboth.

TAPSI received notice that Ben J.

Smith passed away 3/30/01. Benwas 84 years old and had beenretired 36 years. Harry Wales’sobituary appeared in the localpapers. Harry was in the Me-chanical Department at SeattleTransit and was 85 years old athis passing … I received wordfrom Johnny Sisk that JimGardner passed away on July6, 2001. Jim has had some se-vere medical problems over thelast several years. Jim was 78 athis passing. He was a World WarTwo veteran and was a driver ofa half-track vehicle during theBattle of the Bulge and had Gen-eral George Patton as his Com-manding General. The ATU InTransit list five memorials indeath benefits awarded fromJanuary-February 2001. Theyare; Lawrence Fishel, AnnPattee, Carl Wiren and MaryL. Wyatt.

Our sympathies go out to thosefamilies that have lost lovedones. We should remember thatthe survivors need support intheir time of sorrow and weshould extend that support tothe best of our ability.

Keep in mind, if you have newsyou want to share with otherscall me after e-mail me at—Dennerle1@juno.com , or call theunion office and leave a mes-sage. I will get back to you.

The View From the BusesBy John D. Love, http://www.atu587.com/retireecorner.html