Of course what happened was Government took the unusual step of appointing a Disputes Inquiry Board (DIB) to intervene on our negotiations and temporarily prevent any job action.  Now the appointed Board member has been given 45 days to finalize and recommend a settlement.  We have met for three days so far and will be meeting with him again on April 13 and 14.  The members at Calgary HandiBus will vote on his recommendation shortly after that.  If the recommended Settlement is not acceptable we will resubmit a strike notice and follow our original plan.  We know that Access Calgary is getting a lot of media attention as a result of their relationship with the “for profit” service providers and a lot of our clients are raising concerns over the service those providers give.  If City Council is longing for the “good old days” they should bring Calgary HandiBus in house and go for a long-term Collective Agreement.  This will accomplish for the long term through Collective Bargaining, what the Labour Minister hopes to accomplish short term through the DIB, and that is to provide dependable quality service.

Why is it that the portion of society that everyone is claiming they want to protect has to rely on the only portion of public transportation that is farmed out for “profit?”

Brian Mason, leader of the Provincial NDP visited our Local in April to follow up on our HandiBus negotiations and the appointment of this Dispute Inquiry Board.  He also offered any assistance he could provide on the assaults of our members and on public transportation in general.

Calgary Transit has taken the unprecedented action of bringing the contractor “Big Rig” on to our property to replace the windows on our LRT cars.  Although it is allowed under the Labour Code, it has the potential to change our relationship with the employer drastically.  We have followed up on this and clearly expressed our concerns to the employer. On a without precedence basis and after meeting with the members, we have determined we will agree to have our Bodymen oversee the installation of the windows.  The employer representative had stated he has not identified any value in contracting out any of this work and his recommendation will be to not do that on future projects.  Only time will tell how this affects our next round of negotiations.

Our City of Calgary Collective Agreement is open for “wages only” as of July 4, 2011.  This will take us to January 1, 2012.  The intent of this is to bring us in line with the other Civic Unions so our increases no longer start six months after everyone else.  We have been working closely with these Locals through the Civic Labour Coalition and are happy to report they have a good handle on their negotiations.
       

EXECUTIVE VICE-PRESIDENT/ OPERATIONS         DOUG JOHANNES

Away - recovering from surgery
   
FINANCIAL SECRETARY-TREASURER         RICK RATCLIFF

In the last couple of months this office and its Officers have fielded some concerns from the membership on the passing of two suspended members and the retirement of another.  This Local was not present at their ceremonies, so for the sake of the members that weren’t here ten years ago I offer this brief overview.  

Yes, this month marks our 10th anniversary of returning to work after a bitter 49 day strike.  There will always be opinions about it.  I remember both good and bad, but I was proud to be the Victoria Park Site Captain.  I believe in the action our Local took and I stood strong for the cause of the day.  It was not the decision of one person to walk out, but a decision made by the majority of the membership.  The majority, a word inferring a vote and the democracy of our Local.  The majority of the members made a decision, a decision right for the times and it was a show of solidarity.  A few of those that weren’t in the majority chose to act against us.  Some of these actions included:  campaigning against the Local, renouncing their membership, and the worst of the worst – crossing the picket line!  Crossing the picket line is any Union’s “cardinal” sin.  The small number of members who “crossed”, were charged by Local 583’s membership.  They were given an opportunity to present their reasons for “crossing” to a Trials and Appeals Board.  Most chose not to present to the Board.  After the Board ruled, the membership voted on their ruling.  Again, most chose not to present to the membership. They were all suspended.  Most of those disenfranchised showed no interest in reconciling, which is sad for those few because our Local has a good memory.  Thanks to the majority for your solidarity in this milestone anniversary year.

The Series “8” LRV’s are posing one big problem for ATU 583 and the City.  This train is immensely different from the current fleet.  The “8” has high tech features such as cameras for rear view mirrors and multiple onboard cameras for onboard viewing of developing situations.  “8”s do not have “emergency drive”, so when a train breaks down between stations,  the cliental just jump off the train into the ballast rather than wait for a mechanic to come and mobilize the train.

Itemized lists of deficiencies and endless negative comments have been forwarded to this office but nothing speaks louder than the continued break downs, chargeable accidents and a termination.  Thanks to our Steward’s for keeping us informed.

Our Operator’s are doing the best they can to keep the trains moving but with only three “keys” in semi-regular service, many Operators’ can’t even do “train swaps”.  They haven’t been oriented so the “8”s must go off-line. If they have been oriented it’s been months since they’ve operated one.

When an Operator is still uncomfortable with this series and requests some training, the push back from supervisory staff has been, “you’ve had your orientation”.  Oh sorry, did I mention the train Operator’s aren’t trained on the Series “8”, they get an ORIENTATION.

Each train car is valued at almost four million dollars, therefore a three car train is over an eleven million dollar vehicle!  This plus the value of the passengers on the train, add the cost of a number of lawsuits if there was a mishap, add the value of being able to operate SAFELY, “priceless”.

One member who alluded to his discomfort with the “8” was fired.  This Operator only had six months train experience in his two year tenure.  This Operator received his four hours of ORIENTATION with four others in the cab area with him.  The terminated Operator never got a chance to go through the “bypass and penalty stop” procedures.  These procedures among others are paramount to the SAFE operation of the train.  When this Operator got “dumped” in the “8”, he wasn’t familiar with the alarms and lights displayed because no hands on experience had been afforded to him.  He was DISORIENTED!  He gained control of his train and proceeded.  TERMINATED!  Terminated because he was given an ORIENTATION and not a training session.  I’m sure the safe operation of the system is worth a training session.  I hope the media doesn’t get a hold of this termination, we know they like a good termination/SAFETY story.

My final comment, the CT News Clips donated a third of a page to reserved customer parking at the LRV Stations.  It would be nice to see a couple of lines dedicated to the procedures for employee use and how the company is working on spaces for their employees.
       
RECORDING SECRETARY -  MAINTENANCE/OFFICE REPRESENTATIVE         BILL JOHNSON

Here we are approaching the best time of year, here in Calgary, spring time in Alberta!  Driving conditions can still be challenging. Please don’t compromise safety to keep on schedule or get the job done quickly.  As you start to speed up to get the job done, you put yourself into a position of being involved in an accident.  Accidents put people’s lives at risk, cost money and usually lead to a lot of paperwork.  Please be careful!

I would like to remind the membership, we have monthly meetings on the first Wednesday of every month for all ATU 583 Steward’s.  Any concerns that you may have, can be brought to the attention of any of the Steward’s on the phone list so they can bring them to the office to be dealt with in a timely fashion.  From time to time we have instances where a member may have a legitimate concern and takes too long to bring it to our attention, then the timelines become an issue. The Chief Steward’s are diligent about addressing all the concerns that are brought to the Steward’s meetings and passing such information on to your Full Time Officers and the Executive Board.  If issues are dealt with as soon as possible, usually an acceptable resolve is achievable.

Once again, the issue of booking buses with defects is a major problem.  If there is anything wrong with your bus, please BOOK your bus either with the diesel office when returning to the garage or through Control if you are on the road.  If it requires a change off, contact Control and they will contact the diesel office and then the highly trained maintenance personnel can bring a good order bus out to you.  They will then take care of the bad order bus and get it back to the garage for the necessary repairs.  I ask Operators not to volunteer to change off defective buses on the road to safeguard you from any harm arising from driving a defective bus.

There seems to be a lot of issues coming up around outsourcing around Calgary Transit.  This is a very BIG issue for this Local and we are trying to deal with the contracting out as things come up.  I can assure you that this will be a huge item at the negotiating table at the end of this year.  Management has contracted out several things over the years in hopes of saving money and it has ended up costing more money in the end.  One example is at the Anderson Garage Body Shop, where the window replacement program was awarded to Big Rig.  As you may be aware, a former Manager from Bus and Auxiliary Vehicles at Calgary Transit is now employed by Big Rig, coincidence, I wonder?  The bottom line is, we have the best people in our own membership that can do this work and do it better.  It is a proven fact that if something isn’t done right by the contractors, then it is YOU the members who are summoned to do the job properly.

I have been fielding a lot of calls lately about the lines in the garages.  As you are aware, we have had a long rough winter and usually the garages get a good cleaning and the lines are repainted after that.  After taking a walk through Spring Garden’s garage, you can see lines a little easier at the doors, so I have asked the Garage Co-ordinator to keep the front doors clean making it easier to park the first bus on the line and then the rest of the buses can fall in line in an orderly fashion.

I would like to remind the membership, the conflict resolution committee is in place consisting of the two Chief Steward’s.  If you are having a problem with another member, please contact this office and we can arrange to have Harvey Woo or Neil Armitage deal with the issue instead of going to Management.  If you go to Management first, the potential for discipline is possible.  Keep in mind that we spend more time at our work than we do with our families.  From time to time, issues do arise between members and the conflict resolution committee has proven helpful in most situations.  
      
CHIEF STEWARD – OPERATIONS         NEIL ARMITAGE

We are living in a world today where the use of computers and smart phones is taken for granted in our day-to-day communications.  We send out emails that get sent with the push of a button instead of writing a letter.  What a marvelous time saving idea, right?  One of the problems with this however is that it takes away the step of proof reading your letter and reflecting on the content of what you put on the screen.  Has it ever happened to you that you fired off an email to show your frustration over something that has happened to you,  in a store for instance, and then regretted it the instant you hit the send button.

Now we come to the point of this example.  As a City employee you should be familiar with the policy regarding speaking to the media. The City has spokespeople on staff that respond to questions arising from day to day business.  It can be very tempting sometimes to see a situation at work and feel like you have to say something.  Talking to your co-workers around the table about it is one thing, but sending a letter to the editor where you identify yourself as a City worker can lead to putting yourself at odds with the policy if someone perceives it as unfavorable to the City.  Once you have hit “send” it’s out of your control as to who reads it or forwards it on to whomever they like.

That doesn’t seem to be a big issue at first glance but in the past, members have been disciplined when they have run afoul of this particular policy.  Now with more and more people using the social networking sites like Facebook or Twitter to communicate with friends and family instantly, comments made in these forums have ended up being used against people who would reasonably expect it to be none of the City’s business.  Be aware that nothing is private anymore in this age of instant communication.

Now we are running across the problem of City workers being targeted by members of the public just itching to catch them on video in some embarrassing situation.  It seems that with the right amount of prodding or poking, sort of like throwing a rock at a hornet’s nest, and then using editing on the resulting reaction, you can put anyone in a bad light.  Then when it ends up on YOU-TUBE the City gets involved and the member is left explaining his actions to a Supervisor that is making a decision based on the “incriminating” evidence and the members’ responses.

If you find yourself being called in to deal with any of these scenarios, request a Union Representative be present.  What can seem to be insignificant can spiral out of control before you can comprehend what’s happening.  Unfortunately these kinds of call ins are seemingly happening out of the blue because the member may not even be aware that their actions or comments have come to the City’s attention.  How they deal with this is usually with some form of discipline based on your responses.  Sometimes you may feel embarrassed to divulge information that can have an impact on this investigation.  Talk to the Steward and advise them of all the details so they can be prepared in the meeting with Management. Using the services of your Union Rep. in these situations is what you can expect from your dues; so don’t hesitate to call us.

         FOR YOUR INFORMATION…..

The following is an excerpt from a letter we received last fall from retiree Marjorie Snaith. While she was an active member she worked very hard for this membership including writing a booklet on Unionism that is still used today in the new hiree orientations.  Her letter talks about unionism and I would like to share it with you.

    “My advice to everybody in the unionized workforce is to get to know your union.  Make sure you feel represented and protected.  When elections occur, elect representatives who are not afraid to defend what is right.  Effective Unions are Unions that bring democracy to a workplace.  We wouldn’t dream of living in a country where we couldn’t vote or have a say in how things are run, so why would we accept such a situation at work.  Unions give you a voice in your workplace.  Having a union means there is someone willing to go to bat for you in a workplace dispute.  If you haven’t already, attend a union meeting and get to know where your union dollars are going”.
 
    “For you union naysayers, if you truly detest unions, there is a way you can prove it.  Start by giving back the raises they have negotiated for you.  Refuse to accept any increases in pay they get for you in the future and return all back pay.  Refuse to avail yourself of any of the rights they have won such as office hours, rehire rights and the rights to file a grievance.  Do all this and you will prove that your anti unionism is genuine.  If you don’t, maybe you were just looking for a free ride”.  

 
THANK YOU CARDS RECEIVED

Charlie Fisk        Doug Johannes       Family of Ron Foster        Larry Johnson          Bruce Horne        Susan-Anne Lewin
Mike Jeffery        Ron Smith                 Gord Christensen             Conrad Johnstone

CONGRATULATIONS On Their Retirement

Robert Revitt – Operator – March – 32¼ years
Rodney Moore – Maintenance – April – 34¾ years
Donald Morrison – Operator – April – 31 years
Mike Djakovic – Maintenance – May – 30 years
Miguel Carter – Operator – May – 31 years
Tom Aberdeen – Operator – May – 30¼ years
Don Miller – Maintenance – May – 27½ years


RETIREES CORNER
Just a Reminder:  The next meeting will be May 2nd, 2011 @ 7:00 p.m. at Spring Gardens Garage, +15 (3rd Floor). The next luncheon will be the annual buffet at the Austrian-Canadian Club (3112 – 11 St. NE) on Tuesday, May 3, 2011, doors open at 5:00 p.m., dinner at 6:00 p.m.

/sw     
COPE #397