The news and information publication of
ATU Local 1005 Prepared and distributed by the Education Committee
The 1005 Line For The People Who Know Where They Are Going
January / February 2012 Executive Board and Members Show Up for Transportation Committee Meeting
"The labor movement means just this: It is the last noble protest of the American people against the power of incorporated wealth." Phillips (1811-1884) abolitionist, reformer and advocate for Native Americans What’s Inside... Officer’s Corner page 2 Union Meeting Highlights page 3 State of the Bus Fleet page 6 FamilyMedical Leave page 7 Lisa Benson page 9 Southwest LRT page 11 TSSC Minutes page 18 Retirements page 21, 22 Letters to the Editor page 22, 23 Obituaries page 24
On Monday, January 9th, members of Local 1005 and the ATU Executive Board came prepared to show the Transportation Committee that we wanted resolution on many of our unresolved issues. A week prior, on Monday, January 2nd, the Executive Board members and other members had begun to show up in the FTH Tower lobby with a variety of signs pertaining to these issues. They then spent the week educating the people in the Tower on what many of the no cost/low cost issues were. Local 1005’s presence at these meetings was successful. As of Wednesday, January 10th, management had sufficiently dealt with nine issues: • Allow Cleaners to bid normally on Commuter Cleaner jobs. Management was trying to create a separate process. The one-year commitment to Commuter Rail will still apply. • Pay back to retirees any overpayment they made on healthcare for 2011(affects 33 retirees). • Change Observation Reports to reflect only ADA and calling streets issues. • Change progression wage rate for operators to include all employees not at top scale to 30 days from date of hire effective July 1, 2010 (adds about two weeks of higher pay for 520 active members, and establishes a more equitable standard). • Money Room overtime agreement finalized. • Fixed Recognition Program on transfers. (In the past, a transfer resulted in a loss of recognition time in both departments.) • When a suspension includes holidays, the holidays will be included as work days missed when calculating days. • Any bus operators who want to turn the interior lights off at layovers/ pull-out/pull-in trips can call TCC and request permission if they believe there is a safety concern and there are no passengers on the bus. • Arbitration panel meetings Many thanks go out to all the Local 1005 members who assisted in educating management and the Met Council, and to those who finally resolved these issues.