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At a time when King County Metro buses are recording a 7 percent increase in ridership, the bus drivers are currently working without a contract. On Jan. 10, workers of Amalgamated Transit Union 587 voted down a tentative agreement 1,422-1,166. The previous agreement expired Oct. 31.
Prior to the vote, members of ATU 587 who voted against the tentative agreement distributed a flyer, signed by over 100 employees, saying the agreement “does not give us the improvements in working conditions, security, and shifts that we need. It does not give us adequate financial gains in the form of real raises.’’
The main reasons given to send that contract back to the negotiating table included an arbitrary disciplinary system, an erosion of wages and benefits, and wage disparity, where the vast majority of the union workers gets only a 1 percent wage, while a few get 5-10 percent. Plus, members were only given 10 days to consider the contract.
The tentative agreement (TA) offered a “wage increase” of 3 percent effective Nov. 1, 2007 but opponents of the contract said that was the equivalent of a cost-of-living increase they never received because the contract expired in October.
The most controversial aspect of the TA was a paragraph that allows “drivers with an accumulation of complaints to be disciplined.” However, those who opposed the agreement claimed that management accepts almost all complaints as legitimate including hearsay, situations where the driver can’t be identified with certainty, and cases where the driver is actually following policy. Also, lowest paid members such as clerks, utility service workers, and facilities maintenance workers would see the smallest gain.
ATU 587 local leaders could not be reached for comment. Both sides meet with a mediator Feb. 4. However, the mediators have no decision-making power. Binding arbitration would be the final option for the two parties as bus drivers are forbidden by law to go on strike. |
