I begin with a quick reminder to all ATU Officers to please remember to update your union boards.

We are still in negotiations with TriMet, First Student Mechanics, Yamhill, Corvallis Transit, Walla Walla and pursuing negotiations at Outdoor Service Provider. We were back at the table with TriMet on March 18 and March 19.  We are working hard towards incorporating member requests from the contract suggestion forms. This has been one of the most amiable negotiations I have participated in for a long time. We were back at the table in Walla Walla on March 26. Their management almost fell out of their chairs at our last meeting when we brought out the proposed wages. Hopefully they can see that our proposed wage increase would be a win – win for both sides and would support employee retention. Yamhill contract opener also occurred during March. I am curious to see how these meetings will proceed with this new company at the negotiating table.

Corvallis will attempt to implement a new approach to the bid system beginning with this next sign up. Corvallis is hoping the changes will improve their bidding process, which currently takes over 8 days to complete for 33 drivers. They will initiate it on Sunday and will provide each employee with 15 minutes to select their bid. If an employee is unable to log on to complete their pick, their Liaison Officer Mykal will make the selection for them.

On Friday, March 15, I attended The ATU Legislative Council of Washington State. We met with Laurie Wiedner, the Executive Director of Retired Public Employees Council of Washington. She shared information pertaining to the three PERS that are available for retirees. While in attendance, we were also informed that Senate Bill 5383 known as the “Free to Walk Bill” which would have made jaywalking legal, died in Legislative Committee.

I am continuing to work with Medford to try and resolve some issues that were brought to my attention during their March continuation meeting. I will also be at C -Tran for Labor Management meetings concerning their issues. They remain short of available drivers while people are continuing to leave because they are just burned out with all the forced overtime.