The transit subcommittee has concluded. I have been a part of this committee for the last few months. We were tasked with looking at alternative ways to fund public transportation. We were very thoughtful with our recommendations, which will now be going to the Transportation Committee. We hope for the best as our recommendations move forward. As we all know, transit funding is desperately needed.

We are experiencing several locations where operators are leaving their garage or the end of the line early. If this is due to trying to make the schedule work, please do not leave early. This does not help anyone. They need to make the schedules work for us.

We are also seeing many operators speeding and leaving time points early. Once again, if this is due to scheduling issues, this does not help other operators. Please report these issues to your Union officer. They need to fix the schedules to make them work for us. Safety is our number one priority.

RVTD (Medford)

Hopefully, by the time you are reading this, we will have a ratified contract. It will be going to the members for a vote. It has been a long road.

The agency lost half of its workforce a year ago. During the past year, their medical costs have gone up significantly. This has taken us down a whole new path regarding health care and insurance costs.

We learned that a whole new type of insurance existed. It is called an ICHRA (Individual Coverage Health Reimbursement Arrangement). This allows employees to choose from over 30 medical plans. This helped reduce the cost of medical coverage at this location and helped us reach an agreement on this contract.

We look forward to the board's approval of the new service expansion and the ability to hire additional drivers. Unfortunately, this has gone beyond the 12 months allowed under the contract to recall those who were laid off a year ago.

We have also entered into an MOA for the B board.

Portland Public Schools

Welcome to a new school year. We hope the school year is off to a good start.

One issue that has already come up is funeral leave for a friend. The contract does allow one day of funeral leave for a friend. There are no other requirements for this leave.

First Student Portland

As we come back into the new school year, we are not only facing temporary start locations for some routes, but we have also learned that the majority of the Samsara cameras have been installed.

We are seeing some discipline and triggered events because of these cameras. We recently held a demand-to-bargain session over this technology and are in the process of learning everything these camera systems are capable of doing. We will continue to keep you updated as we learn more details.

Valley Transit (Walla Walla)

Our members in Walla Walla recently experienced a serious incident. One of the security guards was seriously injured. Multiple operators stepped in to help, but one of our operators, Andrew, jumped in, loaded the security guard onto his bus, and drove him to the hospital.

The guard is recovering thanks to those who stepped in to help him. ATU will be reaching out to Andrew to recognize him as one of our ATU Heroes.

TriMet

We have successfully retained all of the service worker positions that were being discussed for cuts. Our service workers and service aides are valuable assets in keeping our buses and trains clean. I want to thank them all for their hard work.

We have received our last layoff and bump-back notices for employees. Unfortunately, they are from our on-street customer service department. The people who are affected are the face of the agency to the public, so this will greatly affect customer service in the field.

We continue to see employees reporting their coworkers directly to management. Please remember, if you are having an issue with a coworker, contact your Union officer first. We are here to help.

We continue to see time-loss issues being the cause of many people losing their jobs. Remember, there are a few ways to protect time loss due to mental stress, migraine headaches, chronic pain, or a serious health condition. You have available leaves to help protect your situation, including Paid Leave Oregon and FMLA/OFLA. TriMet continues to terminate employees on protected leaves as well. If you experience these issues, please let your officer know. We need to be aware of these situations so we can bring them up during the process.

LTD (Eugene)

I would like to commend all of the operators and Public Safety Officers (PSOs) for having the courage to speak out at the last LTD Board meeting.

Our members were respectful and precise when speaking about the lack of training for PSO officers. A newly hired PSO was terminated, and members raised concerns that a lack of training contributed to the situation.

Members also spoke out about not being supported by the agency in their time of need. I want to thank everyone who stood up and made their voices heard. I have received messages from the agency that clearly state that they heard us, and we will be having further discussions on this matter.