Oregonian Picks Sides in TriMet/ATU Battle


Squarely on the side of TriMet management, and calling on the Legislature to end binding arbitration for the agency and Amalgamated Transit Union.


11 responses to “Oregonian Picks Sides in TriMet/ATU Battle”

  1. I find it interesting that TPTB are considering this potential strategy. A transit strike would be potentially disastrous for TriMet–if people find themselves unable to use transit for an extended amount of time, they may start to make other arrangements. If the other arrangements include buying a car, they may well not come back.

    Other states (mainly GOP-led ones) have dealt with their public employee unions much more harshly–Scott Walker in Wisconsin is the most notorious example. I’m kind of curious why we’re not hearing calls for that sort of aggressive action (not that I’m endorsing it!)–perhaps Neil’s hand in Salem isn’t as strong as he would like? Oregon’s leadership remains Democratic, after all, and union-busting is, in general, not on the Democratic Party’s agenda.

  2. Boy is this surprise..
    Why are you covering?

    Oh yea I know why, your on Macfalanes side too.

    Screw you and screw you green washing anti union rhetoric.

    Jon is smart to stay away from all of you, none of you want any good for us.

  3. I’ve thought about the strike issue, and I think you raise a good point.

    On the one hand, it would show the car-centric idiots in our region how important Trimet really is. The traffic would be epic, and it would be all over the news.

    On the other hand, you may be right. People may buy cars and never come back to Trimet.

  4. Al,

    Just because the Oregonian says something and we report on it, doesn’t mean we at PT agree–and vice versa, any more than the recent article on TriMet getting “paddled” by the ERB means we endorse the position of the ERB or of ATU 757.

  5. You don’t believe in rule of law either.
    You believe in threats, bullying& intimidation.
    The fact is the union outsmarted your “brilliant” richly paid bureaucrats and like the spoiled brats they are they go whining with their cronies to the public, who they also are screwing.

    Portlander’s arent as stupid as Most Americans are, they know Macfarlane is blowing wind.

    Why is he so scared of arbitration?
    Obviously the facts don’t support his lies and he prefers huffing&puffing to rule of law, because rule of law exposes his con game.

  6. You don’t believe in rule of law either.
    You believe in threats, bullying& intimidation.
    The fact is the union outsmarted your “brilliant” richly paid bureaucrats and like the spoiled brats they are they go whining with their cronies to the public, who they also are screwing.

    Whom are you addressing?

    Why is he so scared of arbitration?

    Because he’s been losing?

    Ignoring the ERB rulings on the unfair labor practice complaints, Neil said something interesting the other day in the City Club presentation. Last year, he was confident of a victory before the ERB, and accused the union of stalling. Now, it seems like TriMet expects to lose the final arbitration as well. And Neil’s claim is that the arbitrator, which has to choose between one side’s offer or the other, in toto, will always pick the one thats closer to the status quo–in other words, reasonableness is, according to Neil, defined by deviation from the prior contract. Last year, and this is my supposition, it appears he thought he could win an argument “on the merits” before ERB by appealing to the agency’s budget picture, and by claiming TriMet operators were overcompensated compared to their peers, and that therefore it was TriMet’s offer that was more reasonable, even though it represented significant concessions by the union.

    Again, that’s my supposition. It seems clear that people at TriMet, including the GM, lack an understanding of how the game is played–or at least did so until recently.

  7. Actually, I think it was David Knowles (not Neil) who suggested that binding arbitration favors the status quo at City Club.

    Al, your treading all over our rules about not making things personal with other commenters. Please be civil.

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