PRESIDENT/BUSINESS AGENT                       MIKE MAHAR

There are no words that can properly capture the events surrounding September 3^rd when the Horn family lost their son Chad so we won’t try.  I just want to point out the obvious and that is how wonderful it was to see the outpouring of support from Anita and Jim’s employer, their co-workers, their Brothers and Sisters from Local 583, their friends and even complete strangers from across the Country.  I recently had the privilege of meeting with the family and they were absolutely overwhelmed by the kindness shown to them. Even during this difficult time they wanted to be sure everyone knows how grateful they are for all the support.

The hiring and retention problem at Calgary Transit has developed many tentacles.  One common theme among new employees is that the job is not what they were promised or that the employer is not fulfilling the promises made to them to get them here.  We identified this problem over two years ago and informed the employer of it at the time but apparently it has fallen on deaf ears.  A case in point is that new hires from out of province are told they can go home and straighten out their affairs after they graduate.  Unfortunately when the time comes they are only permitted four days to complete this task.  Anything more would violate the Collective Agreement and Corporate Policy.  Another common complaint is they are not informed of the three-step pay scale and the 60-hour guarantee for Operators.  This is huge as the difference in wages is roughly $20,000 annually at $55,000 per year versus $34,000.  Training is saying they are telling them but a large number of new employees are telling us they don’t remember that conversation.  It’s a tough way to start a new relationship and is the reason some of them leave.

The City has rolled out other programs in an effort to hire and retain staff such as paying new staff to stay on the job and not having to pay back bonuses after a certain period of service.  They are looking at rolling out additional incentive programs in the future.

It seems the only thing they are not willing to try is to apply Article 102.05, which is language the City proposed and was successful in negotiating into the Collective Agreement.  It states that if they identify a classification where they can’t hire or retain staff they will increase the wage to an out of schedule rate.  We grieved this issue when grieving the relocation fees and it went to Arbitration on June 25, 2008.  We are awaiting an answer and will let you know the results as soon as we receive the decision.

This is one that really burns me.  The City of Calgary’s Transportation Department funds Calgary Transit.  In turn Calgary Transit funds Access Calgary.  Access Calgary then contracts “not for profit” Calgary HandiBus to provide a very specialized service to the citizens of Calgary.  Calgary HandiBus has provided this service for about thirty years and is recognized as one of the best systems in North America. 

Now Access Calgary is contracting this same work to Southland Transportation.  Southland Transportation is a “for profit” multi-million dollar transportation company that runs under Pacific Western Transportation.  Access Calgary gives them preferred runs with preferred hours and pays them through a contract similar to Calgary HandiBus.  The difference is Calgary HandiBus pays our drivers a living wage of $21.44 plus health benefits and pension contributions.  Southland pays just over $16.00 and part of the employees Alberta Health Care premiums. 

Here is the reason for the difference in wages, Southland needs to make a profit.  Unfortunately that profit comes at the detriment of Calgary HandiBus, its customers and the taxpayers of the City of Calgary.  HandiBus gets the tougher hours, tougher workloads and has to try and hire more casual employees in an environment where most employees want full time work.

In the meantime, Southland cannot fulfill their obligations to the children that depend on them for a safe and timely ride to school, students are on the bus for far longer than they have to be and many times they get there late if they get there at all.  Yet, while Southland continues to profit off the citizens of Calgary, those same citizens are made to feel guilty for not coming forward to drive those buses via daily ads in the papers. 

City Council should take notice of this.  Not only does this undermine Calgary HandiBus and subsidize private enterprise, it also creates a further shortage of school bus Operators.

The right thing to do is use Calgary HandiBus as the provider of choice for Access Calgary.  This will free up about twenty Southland Operators to drive school buses and alleviate a lot of the troubles these children will be facing this winter when trying to get to school on time.

EXECUTIVE VICE-PRESIDENT/ OPERATIONS               

DOUG JOHANNES              

We have a number of people complaining about the schedules that we have to follow, that there is no time to take breaks or use the washroom.  There is nothing more important than insuring that you are comfortable while you are operating your bus.  If you need to use the washroom, stop your bus and use it.  Management at Calgary Transit does not schedule recovery time in to the runs.  I guess they think you will simply hold it until your shift is over.  This is unacceptable, you are entitled to use whatever facilities you may require.           

When you are running late, let Management know that you are late.  Do not try to make up your time by taking short cuts or exceeding the speed limit.  If you are speeding and get caught no one will say, “oh you were trying to keep your bus on time, we understand”.  No, they will say, “you got a ticket, pay it”, and we will keep track of how many you get and then we will call you back in to talk to you about it.  If you are a probationary employee you will be counseled about it and told that you need to improve your work performance or you will be deemed to be unsuccessful in your probationary period.    What that means is you will be fired.  So again, take the most responsible approach you can.  Do not speed, do not take short cuts.  If you get late, inform Radio Control, make it Management’s problem not yours.  You will not get in trouble if you are late due to not enough time on the run.  In fact, passengers will start to complain.  Then and only then will Calgary Transit address the scheduling concerns.

Now on to other concerns that have come to this office all too often.  The use of the radio, many Operators feel compelled to offer their opinion or comments when they hear conversations on the radio. Please let Management handle these calls and do their jobs.  It is not our place to offer our little tidbits.  This only leads to problems between Operators and we only have ourselves out there.  We understand what each other is going through as we do it ourselves all day long.  When we work together the job runs smoother and the work gets done properly.

If you see a bus with their signal light on, let it out in front of you.  That Operator will return the favor next time.  If the bus in front of you is full, help out, pick up some of their passengers or ask Control if you can do their pickups.  Again, this will come back to you in spades.  It was the norm here for many years and now the norm seems to be, look after yourself and who cares about your fellow worker.  This can change, all it takes is you to start it.

I would like to clear up a rumour that is going around.  Apparently there is a training officer out there telling Community Shuttle Operators that Local 583 has withdrawn the grievance on the Community Shuttle bus (Eldorado).  Nothing could be further from the truth.  We have not dropped the grievance nor will we drop the grievance.  In fact, this matter is scheduled for Arbitration for December 9, 11 and 12, 2008.  I truly hope that these comments are being made out of ignorance not malice.  Any reasonable person looking at that bus could not possibly agree that it is a Shuttle bus.  Nor does it remotely resemble what a  Shuttle Bus was designed to be.

FINANCIAL SECRETARY-TREASURER         RICK RATCLIFF

I hope everyone had a great summer!  Included in that summer should have been a trip to the ATU 583 Family Picnic.  If you attended, hopefully you and your family enjoyed yourself.  If you couldn’t attend, see you next year.  A Big Thank You  goes out to the Social Committee for all the hard work involved in making the picnic a success.

Unfortunately I missed the picnic due to a last minute invitation to attend Financial Secretary training.  Since I’ve had this position for six months the formal training was overdue.  The seminar was held at the National Labour College in Silver Springs, Maryland which is pretty much dead center between Washington D.C. and Baltimore.  There were Union Reps from across Canada and the United States, all willing to network and tell their stories.  Not to make it sound too glamorous though, the weather was way too hot for me:  90+ degrees F with 90% humidity daily.  The main focus of the course was to teach two computer programs, some tax law (most applicable to the U.S. only) and how to fill out all the documents the International Union uses for business.           

The International made it clear to the Reps that we are the keepers of the membership list and it is our job to collect membership dues.  This leads me into my next topic, all bargaining unit members must pay dues.  The City automatically deducts this amount from your paycheque.  The dues we currently pay are:  1/80^th of your bi-weekly wage for full time employees or one hour regular wages for employees working less than 70 hours per pay period.

This means as long as you are receiving a cheque from City payroll, ATU Local 583 receives your dues.  If a member is on Long Term Disability or an extended Leave of Absence i.e. 30 days or greater you must pay your dues directly to the Local office.  That rate is currently a reduced rate of $10.80 per month.  Usually a friendly reminder is sent out once the office learns of the member’s situation.  If the transfer of information from the City to ATU Local 583 has allowed the member to slip through the cracks, the office would be more than willing to work out a payment process if an unexpected bill is received.

As a member of ATU Local 583 the benefits include:  voting privileges (meeting, contract, election), meeting and event attendance privileges, inexpensive life insurance with a cash rebate at retirement based on years of participation, a cash dues rebate, again based on years of participation upon your retirement date, a $1000.00 funeral benefit if you should pass away at any age, a negotiated collective bargaining agreement, a pension, health and medical benefits and representation at any type of hearing, to name a few.  As you can see, membership has its privileges.           

This month we have two ATU members heading off to court for assault hearings.  They are going to testify against their assailants and ATU 583 would like to put as many members in the gallery as possible.  We would like to ask all participants to wear ATU gear or uniforms (hats are not allowed to be worn in the courtroom) to show support for our members and make the judge take notice that our members are not to be bullied by “customers”.  Having ATU members in the gallery worked so well in London, Ontario (ATU Local 741) that the presiding judge threw out a plea agreement for a fine and jailed the assailant.  We would appreciate your support on:  Tuesday, October 28, 2008 – 09:30 Room 1107 and Wednesday, November 18, 2008 – 09:30 Room 1006 at the Court house building on 5^th Street between 6^th and 7^th Ave. SW.  Please call the office to see if the cases have been rescheduled at the last minute, it does sometime happen.  Also, attendees will have to pass through airport type security which includes metal detectors and baggage x-rays.  I would really like to see you there!

RECORDING SECRETARY – MAINTENANCE/OFFICE REPRESENTATIVE   

WALTER MOODIE           

As summer has wound down I hope everyone that had summer vacation had a safe and enjoyable time off.  Vacations are so you can get away from your normal every day work routines, forget about work for awhile, relax and finally have some time to enjoy time with family and loved ones.           

Summertime workload was still quite busy in the Union office and numerous issues always being addressed.  Your elected Officers pick up the workload for each other when off, Doug Johannes and Rick Ratcliff sure did that.  I would like to personally say thanks to both Doug and Rick for doing that this summer while other Officers enjoyed summer vacation.          

Standing together united is one of the primary goals, obligations and support each Union member can give each other.  Reporting on members and volunteering to do other peoples work is not part of being a Union member.  You may believe you are helping if you bring concerns forward to Management but numerous times reporting certain incidents have a negative effect and eventually is used against a fellow member.  Unionism is needed within ATU Local 583 amongst members, always remember your obligation you signed to be in this Union.  If you have any concerns around your work, other members or what is being expected of you, please call your Union office if you feel you need clarity on an issue.          

Attraction and retention of personnel is still a big issue in Alberta and also the City of Calgary.  As I see it, we have more members staying on the job after obtaining their 85 factor if they saw that they were respected by their Management and treated with fairness and dignity.  I have also seen lately that some Management don’t believe their employees at their word and white wash employees as not trust worthy.  With this type of philosophy shown to an employee it not only affects that employee it also spills out to the work group and other areas of the Corporation.  Employers in the top 200 best businesses or places to work constantly show respect, dignity and trustworthiness shown to employees.  It is not costly to an employer to practice and believe in this philosophy and the return from employees is priceless.          

With shortage of qualified Trades people coming to the City of Calgary it is time that the City and especially Calgary Transit venture down the avenue of opening apprenticeships for more trades.  ATU in both Canada and the USA are promoting, encouraging and getting very involved in this very important issue.  Your International Vice-President, Mr. Bob Hykaway has been assigned this task in the USA helping promote, setting up programs and training in numerous properties.  Bob has been doing this for over five years for ATU with remarkably good results.  This is the kind of push and encouragement the trades need if we are to keep up with the growing demand for qualified trade’s people.          

A big round of applause must go out to all the ATU members for the dedication they put into their jobs on a daily basis.  You are the backbone that really makes this City operate, so keep up the good work and always hold your head high that you are an ATU member.  You do have Local Officers that care and fight issues on your behalf.  Show your ATU pride and be proud for being an ATU member.

            FOR YOUR INFORMATION….. 

       2008-2009 Oliver W. Green Memorial Scholarship

       Please watch for the upcoming bulletin for information or check online at   www.atu.org      Deadline is January 31, 2008

     The Annual Fall Banquet is coming up on October 18, 2008, we have a large number of new retirees, too many to list in this article.  We hope that they will attend this dinner in their honour.  Regular members are invited at a cost of $25.00 per couple, which is about ½ the price of dinner.  Come on out and celebrate the veteran retirees and newbies too!   Please watch for the bulletin that will be posted in all the garages for further information.

                                             THANK YOU CARDS RECEIVED

     Bob Babonau                             Fred Lockhart                        Brenda Bourassa                       Susan Anne Lewin        

     Joan Goulder                             Eric Reid                              Garry Hall                          Anita Horn & Jim Bowes

                                                   CONGRATULATIONS

                                                    On Their Retirement

                  David Lines - HandiBus  -  July 2008                                       Dennis Kaiser – Operator – September 2008

                  John Sinclair  -  Operator – July 2008                                     Margit Kazamer – Cafeteria – September 2008

                  Bill Douglas  -  Operator  -  August 2008                                Larry Weselak – Operator – September 2008

                   Evald Gerlat  -  Operator  -  August 2008                              James Wagner – Operator – September 2008

                   Rajinder Grewal  -  Operator  -  August 2008                        Ram Sundar – Maintenance – October 2008

                   Jane Hughes  -  HandiBus  -  August 2008                            John Berry – Operator – October 2008

                    Firoz Jadavji  -  Operator  -  August 2008                             Alvin Gruber – Operator – October 2008

                    Ron Layne  -  Operator  -  August 2008                                Wayne Pigeon – Operator – October 2008

                    Pierre Lamarche  -  Operator  -  August 2008                       Ken Kitchen – Operator – November 2008

                    Arab Gelani – Operator – September 2008                           Richard Hamm – Operator – November 2008   

                        Congratulations to William and Ruby Schafer who celebrated their 60th Wedding Anniversary on August 6, 2008.

RETIREES CORNER

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