TWO SUSPECTS IN CUSTODY AFTER STEALING A TRIMET BUS

Story here via KGW

The following story was passed on to me by someone in Management. About a couple years ago, there were two blogs that were displaying images of Center Street on a regular basis. The images were of the layout of the yard as well as the gates. One of 'em was the Ranting's Blog and the other Bob Cummings (spotter) via twitter. Trimet monitors the Blogs so they were concerned with Homeland Security type issues. Anyone could come in, plant a bomb, attack a worker, steal a bus... The Federal Transit Administration Investigated Bob and his twitter (Daily Cyclist). It was taken down shortly thereafter and, I assume he retired. Didn't see him around after that. The thing is, If Al M's Rantings Blog and Cumming's twitter were so concerned with safety in the lot, they should've voiced their concerns to Trimet, not the public. Al's Blog alone got thousands of views weekly from around the world. When your site is THAT PUBLIC you have a responsibility - or so it would seem - at least morally - to do the right thing in terms of safety and the lives of others.

Trimet needs to have a way of monitoring these gates. Perhaps they should have their private security, monitor - 24-7 via video. This can't be just a story about 2 knuckleheads going on a joyride, it has to be a SERIOUS red flag !!! (at least in my opinion)

AL MARGULIES, BOB CUMMINGS AND TRIMET'S ANNUAL APPRECIATION / ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF THEIR TOP OPERATORS OF THE YEAR

It's an annual event. Those selected are  chosen from those who have NO Preventable Accidents, NO (SIP'S) or complaints from their customers, NO time-loss. They're voted in by their own. It's a BIG DEAL and very difficult to attain.

The creme de la creme !!

click image for zoom

As you can see from the snap shot above, Margulies doesn't have the capacity to recognize the difficulty in achieving this honor. He never received it or any others that I'm aware of in the years he drove. And Cummings hasn't received any accolades for the years he put in either.

This is exactly how Margulies feels about his former co-workers. He's written the Rantings Blog for years under the guise of being pro Union but all the while he spews hatred and publicly incites others against us. Lane Jensen's a good example. He was a follower of his Blog.  They latched on to each other and Jensen found his God in Al and Bob who showed him the way, even the way to jail. Many of the complaints Operators receive are called in by Jensen. He drives around filming buses, reporting Ops to Customer Service. Then displaying it on twitter. Some Operators may have been disqualified from these awards because of Jensen.

Bob Cummings

Former Spotter, Center Street

As you can see, he has a 'finger' too. Must be their intellectual property.  

Justina Carrillo, Mini Operator of the Year, shared (with Cummings over 3 years ago) some of what she went through with a worker's comp claim. Why did he feel he had to visit his problems with McFarlane on her by reprimanding her publicly for something that has nothing to do with this award? Instead of congratulating her, he chose to invalidate her (comment in the snap shot above) Winning it is a big deal. It's like some of the Operators would talk to him at the end of the shift and he apparently put it all in a little teeny tiny hole in his head somewhere so he could use it later against them when an opportunity arrived. Similar to Al secretly tape-recording co-workers then publishing it on his site.

Then they put up the photoshopped picture of McFarlane which degrades the entire process. Love him or not, Op of The Year is a big deal. It validates our presence on the streets as good people doing good things in the community! 

Everything's negative with these two.  Cummings used to write up Operators on a daily basis for years then went to Union Meetings crying how he was THE ONLY UNION MEMBER WHO GIVES A SHIT!! 

Instead of using the Operator of the Year award as a good thing, something we're proud of,  they use it as another point of contention and retribution against those who are different then themselves.  

INSUBORDINATION

A while back, while I was in a 'mandated meeting' with the Manager of my garage, and after going back and forth with her I finally said, "Looks like I'm the only adult in the room".  She threatened to charge me with insubordination. Not the first time. You're not allowed to talk, you don't have 1st Amendment rights. My Union Rep was in there as well but she knew she was the one with the least authenticity and inadvertently blurted it out. "You're insubordinate!!" Not the first time she's threatened it. With this manager it comes down to a power play. She isn't qualified for the job, doesn't have the skills, treats her employees like shit and when she finds herself up against someone who's considerably smarter than she is, she uses her power inappropriately. Oy, what a piece 'a work!! How I miss those days...  NOT!! 

Trimet has a HUGE problem with their Managers and Executives creating hostile and bullying work environments for their Union workers. Her husband  (retired or on disability) was Union for years and her daughter works here as well. Her family receives Union and non-Union benefits, while at the same time she stabs Union workers in the back. 

After seeing how County workers (collectively and in solidarity) went after Sheriff Dan Stanton by “overwhelmingly” approving a vote of no-confidence", which led to an internal investigation, I don't understand why ATU hasn't  gotten involved in a similar action against Neil McFarlane.

NO - CONFIDENCE VOTE

I'd like to see ATU Members come together and vote 'no-confidence' against him. It's not like you can call or arrange to meet up with him. He has a closed door policy and the Board of Directors aren't interested. He's removed himself from our building at the expense of the taxpayers. It's like he's this invisible entity all powerful and full of grandiosity and narcissism.

If the Board of Directors positions were elected rather than appointed by the Governor they'd be accountable and their workers concerns would become their concerns. If we were to hand in a no-confidence against McFarlane with the current Board of Directors it wouldn't be taken seriously because they're all buddies. Good 'ol boy stuff. 

There also needs to be a serious internal audit on business trips and personal expenses from the Executives. Similar to this guy:

According to Rantings of a Former Trimet Bus Driver,  STEVE BANTA was caught ripping off another agency.

As it stands, Trimet is a Public Agency without oversight and accountability. I'd like to see a class action suit filed against them by all those workers forced out through harassment, mobbing, forced retirement, denied workers comp claims (termination through time-loss), etc. Plus active employees should file personal injury lawsuits against the individual Managers and Executives and a class action against the Agency as a whole and have a third party come in, clean house and rebuild. 

It's a terribly hostile environment based on personalities and religious beliefs. They pick and choose which employees are deserving of the enforcement of their HR policies. They have policies in place which were meant to protect the workforce. Respectful Workplace, anti Bullying, Hostile work environment, IT but, again they pick and choose who they feel is worthy of working in a hostile free environment and who isn't - based on personalities and religious beliefs. 

In my experience, they're bottom feeders. Their managers are mostly people who are grossly under qualified for their positions because they take orders, take enormous salaries and come to the job without a conscience. Sociopaths.  

As an example, several years ago they violated my HIPPA by disclosing my FMLA diagnosis to co-workers. Wanting to resolve the issue in-house first, which was assumably those appointed to oversight the agency aka the Board of Directors, who then refused to even acknowledge me. I didn't talk about it in a public meeting but I did send each one an e-mail with supporting documentation. I even made calls but they were never returned. 

There's a big problem in the agency - in terms of how they treat their employees and the public.  As a Public Agency, I think it's incumbent upon the Union and the riders to lobby the legislature and the Governor who appoints the Board to make the Board of Directors positions a part of the political process. The Board needs to be elected positions, made up of people from within the riding community.  

The current Board's interests are street  planning and land use. They're not interested in seeing a work environment built on Dignity. They're not interested in seeing a good moral. They're not interested in the safety or the health of the work force.Same with the riders. Trimet is an oligarchy in the truest sense of the word.