I've decided to hold off publishing this next rant until impeachment proceedings either begin for 45 or Trimet Public records gets back with me about the $42,000 discrepancy concerning Randy Stedman's wages, bonus, benefits or whatever the problem is between the information they sent me and the information they sent as published on Margulies blog. Margulies and Trimet, in my experience share equal levels of dishonesty.

Thanks for your patience

WHO TOOK OUR RIGHT TO STRIKE AWAY, WHEN AND WHY

WHO TOOK OUR 'RIGHT TO STRIKE' AWAY, WHEN AND WHY

Part I
of an article regarding the history of why the 'right to strike' was taken away from Trimet workers. 

Published May 12, 2012 by OregonLive, Joseph Rose

Tom Walsh

General Manager of Trimet 

June 29, 1992 to 1998

From the article:

"My philosophy was a pretty liberal but disciplined one," Walsh said last week. "I believed no company was better than the quality of its workforce." 

"Starting his mornings before sunrise in the garage bullpens, Walsh heard bus and train operators describe serious job-related health problems. Weight gain. High blood pressure. Chronic back pain. Injuries from being assaulted by drunken riders."

"Wyss didn't like what he was hearing about Walsh's meetings with the rank-and-file. He also feared Walsh was negotiating in secret with union leaders. "It's a very dangerous thing to be making big promises during good times," he argued forcefully during one meeting." 

"Walsh replied equally strongly that it was time to end the "us vs. them" culture within TriMet."

The article goes on to explain why Loren Wyss, President of Trimet's Board of Directors was angry when he found out that Walsh went past the Board to Governor Barbara 
Roberts to shore up the deal.

This part is significant in that it shows Oregon's liberal governing process as understanding what Trimet workers go through in terms of safety and health related problems and their need for a contract inclusive of decent health care and retirement coverage.

Significant because in todays Trimet, we continue to have a liberal Governor but a General Manager and Board of Directors who keep Randy Stedman employed at nearly $178,000.00 a year because he's a professional Union Buster and intent on killing the middle class in Oregon. He started Union Busting at Mt Hood Community College then took it to Trimet. It's a family thing as his wife does the same at Port of Portland. According to my sources, he continues to run 'Workplace Practices Group" whose agenda is Union Busting. He has since upgraded his LinkedIn resume which includes Union Avoidance from 2011 to present. 

Randy Steadman

Executive Director Labor Relations and Human Resources

UNION AVOIDENCE

Stay tuned...  Part II to follow

ATU757 SHOP STEWARD TOM HORTON, "A UNION FOR EVERYONE."

TOM HORTON, "A UNION FOR EVERYONE"

Although I agree ATU 757 should be split from the smaller properties, I strongly disagree with Tom Horton's involvement and message. 

A bigger hypocrite there isn't!!

He blocks and invalidates Union members he disagrees with from Union specific Facebook sites and forums, from the information those sites provide. He refuses to be accountable for his behavior and has yet to learn what SOLIDARITY means. He's the Powell Shop Stewart so this behavior is especially concerning, it's anti-Union. This is in direct conflict with what Unions do. His behavior, as a Union Officer is deserving of a Preferring of Charges complaint and subsuquent blackballing.

He's a Bully, not a Union guy looking out for "Everyone's" interests. 

2016 SCROOGE OF THE YEAR AWARD NOMINEES.CONGRATULATIONS TRIMET. YOU'VE FINALLY MADE IT TO THE TOP OF A LIST (2nd Place)

Portland Jobs with Justice

20 hrs · 

"We are excited to announce the 2016 Scrooge of the Year Award Nominees! Visit the event page and click on "Find Tickets" to buy your tickets to the party and your votes now! https://www.facebook.com/events/1338655082824782/

1. David Sanders, CEO of Zoom+Care: Dave Sanders is the owner and CEO of Zoom+Care, a locally based chain of healthcare clinics that operates on a model of discrimination by refusing to accept Medicare, Medicaid, or Tricare patients. A number of employees have accused Sanders of being so harsh that he brings workers to tears. He has repeatedly shown up at community rallies outside of Zoom+ clinics and harassed those attending the rallies.

2. Randy Stedman, Trimet Director of Labor Relations: Before taking his current job at Trimet, Stedman cut his teeth as a union buster at Mt. Hood Community College. Since moving to Trimet he has run a campaign to expand "management rights" and a unilateral, top-down management culture at Trimet. He has vigorously fought ATU Local 757 on reasonable grievances, has negotiated in bad faith, and has consistently frustrated union access to the workplace. 

3. Wells Fargo: Wells Fargo is one for the major investors and lenders in the prison system. Wells Fargo is also implicated as a major funder of the Dakota Access Pipeline that the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and allies are courageously blocking in North Dakota. The bank is also currently involved in a widespread scandal that opened millions of false bank accounts in order to collect fees from unsuspecting customers.

4. Equitable Housing PAC: Equitable Housing PAC is a major landlord lobby here in Oregon. They have been on the front lines fighting against tenant rights at both the local and the state level throughout the housing crisis. The lobby group has dedicated itself to fighting against proposed rent control and just cause eviction legislation in the upcoming 2017 legislative session.

5. Jeff Harvey, CEO of Burgerville: While proudly marketing Burgerville as “sustainable," Harvey willfully directs his company to treat workers as disposable. Everyday, workers are burned by hot oil. Every winter, drive-through workers freeze because restrictive uniform policies. Workers earn poverty wages, have insufficient hours, and inconsistent scheduling. Harvey has refused to meet with the Burgerville Workers’ Union, and denies his workforce basic improvements, such as putting out tip jars, that would cost him nothing at all."

There are many of us including our Union who've experienced Randy Stedman's aggressive, and often inhumane management style in which he promotes and supports a hostile, retaliatory, discriminatory and Bullying/Mobbing Workplace. Under his direction, Trimet's HR Department refuses to enforce their own  policies which include HR 171 respectful workplace violations, hostile working environment, Bullying, IT, etc. Certain employees are often targeted, such as those within a protected class. They pick and choose which workers are worthy of protecting which ones aren't. According to Managers I've spoken with, if they don't take the orders they're given they risk termination. He promotes much fear throughout the system. PLUS, he's a professional Union Buster. He openly advertises 'Union avoidance' on his online resume. (below) His wife does the same at Port of Portland. Nevertheless, in taking this very anti-union stance, Stedman's also sending a message to the majority of our riders, the guts of the system, the middle class who're dependent upon Public Transportation to take them to and from their jobs, shopping, medical, life etc...  

His behavior is a contradiction to the integrity of Trimet , their Unionized Workers and the public we serve. 

Randy Stedman

Director of Labor Relations

In 2011, he was hired at a salary of $175,000.00  (per W2),  for the specific task below:

TRIMET SUES THEIR OWN WORKER TO AVOID PAYING WORKERS COMP CLAIM

TriMet sues to get back mistaken $3,150 payout to MAX operator

"Four years after mistakenly sending a $3,150 check to a MAX train operator, the regional transit agency still wants its money back.

And Phillip X. Emerson still won't return it.

TriMet is now suing Emerson for the money it says he was never "legally entitled to."

Emerson -- who has worked for TriMet for 21 years and still has his job -- told The Oregonian/OregonLive that he kept the money because the agency owed it to him -- plus a lot more -- for a worker's compensation claim over torn rotator cuffs in both of his shoulders. 

Read more here:

Trimet sues their own employee

Workers Comp is a MAJOR issue for Trimet employees as well as the Agency. They don't wanna acknowledge job related injuries because 1.) they believe all workers are liars, cheats and thieves and 2.) they don't wanna be accountable for safety related issues. 

A good reporter could probably gain access to public record documents, perhaps through Trimet and or the State. Obviously, Doctor / patient confidentiality laws exist but public record documents exist as well, more specifically with statistics defining the injury, what caused it and the number of employees affected. I know the Union has access to these numbers as well which they were able to use on my behalf years ago when I sued TM.

Rotator cuff injuries are common. One of my friends had to go back for several surgeries. Both shoulders. He was front ended, true story and the Company came down on him to the degree that his workplace became hostile. 

Shoulder injuries are common, particularly among short Operators. I had a right shoulder replacement in 2009. The steering wheel is up high, I sit low and it eventually grinded the cartilage away. I was off work for 8 months. They actually threatened me with AWOL if I didn't return before the Dr. released me, then fought and denied my claim. The Industry continues to manufacture Buses for large tall men.  And Trimet continues to purchase them. 

Operators 'bottom out' in their seats. Old worn out seats that needed replacing years ago and they're left without a back, without a job and tons of medical for the rest of their life.

The Emergency Brake is another problem. It's situated left of the Operator sometimes below, sometimes in odd positions depending on the manufacturer. It was a problem for me in the newer Buses because it was set so tight. Many times I thought my thumb, fingers and or shoulder was gonna come out of its socket. I wrote tons of work cards but they were never addressed and it was never repaired. The brake is used whenever the Bus is stopped or when the door is open.

There's the whole safety issue regarding assaults, including being spit and coughed on by angry sickly customers. Plus the extreme hostile, bullying environment workers are subjected to by management. The job is psychological. You get abused by the public and the Agency and yet must remain focused at all times while Operating the Bus. Management will mandate you into a meeting, make false accusations or threaten to terminate you, then expect you to Operate a 20,000 ton Bus on the streets as if nothing happened. When something horrendous happens as a result, they deny your W/C claim.

An Assistant Manager told me the agency stopped approving Workers Comp claims unless it was caught on video.  There are other injuries that occur like what feels like a thousand pound motorized scooter running over your foot as you're attempting to secure it. Or slipping on ice in the yard during winter months. On the older buses the vent over the Operators head is full of mold and can't be cleaned. Sometimes events such as these aren't caught on video. Operators face a multitude of repetitive injuries because what we do for a living, is repetitive. Carpel tunnel's common. Constant mirror checks every 6 to 8 seconds throughout your shift, year after year, swerving your neck back and forth, up and down from one side of the bus to the other, trying to look past, under and around huge misplaced mirrors and barriers. They're blind spots. NOT vision barriers but blind spots! And Trimet refuses to move them up, even in light of the Sandi Day accident years ago. They refuse to learn from their mistakes. Arthritis in the neck is common. How would you "catch 'that' on video"?

Repetitive injuries used to be on the list of Workers Comp claims. The State stopped it sometime back. Each job is different. They should have a list of injuries relating to job descriptions particularly if it's something that injures employees on a regular basis. 

They retaliated against Leonard James without mercy. He was the Operator who was stabbed, nearly to death. He was having serious medical problems as a result, having to take time off work for hospitalizations, etc. Blood clots in his legs and stomach problems, serious life threatening incidents.  Retaliatory acts against him were continuous and inhumane.Talk about being bullied!!  They tried to force him out!! Kept mandating him into meetings treating him like shit then expected him to Operate a Bus. When Bruce Hansen was President of ATU, he secretly showed up at one of the meetings and broke Evelyn Warren's (Center Garage Manager) wrath. That was the last time she attacked Leonard's humanity. They apparently didn't like that he continued to suffer as a result of the attack. 

As far as safety issues they exist in virtually every department. Office workers, mechanics, Bus and Max...  The amount of claims denied regularly must be horrendous.

These are severe job related injuries that Trimet and their Insurer ignore. And with each Union contract, they're refusing to provide decent healthcare. As a retiree, I have all sorts of problems now because of driving inadequate and unsafe equipment for nearly 23 years. It's  taking my pension and savings.

John Free, the guy who was in charge of in-house Workers Comp for years denied claims to employees at times based on race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, etc. A couple sued. I was one of 'em. When I sued he was the Garage Manager - and he was 'hating' back then. But haters gonna hate. The Agency (HR) knew but looked the other way. They protect their managers from the workers which is a contradiction of their own respectful workplace policies as well as Federal and State discrimination laws. A person of color was denied w/c, sued and won. Others quit or become 'invisible' because of the velocity of hatred that comes back at you. Retaliation - the one thing Trimet excels at. For some the battle's not worth the fight. but the Agency doesn't care, won't change the way they do business. It appears there are no moral or ethical values for those in power. They're not transparent or accountable as required of other Public Agencies. There's no oversight, which was proven in 2014 when then Secretary of State, Kate Brown did her "top to bottom audit". She ended it after 6 months saying they had run out of money for the project and that she couldn't really tell Trimet how they should conduct business - only suggest. 

From the article, "Mary Fetsch, a TriMet spokeswoman, said she couldn't comment about the specifics of the lawsuit, which was filed this month in Multnomah County Circuit Court. She did say, however, that TriMet is trying to get back public money that accidentally ended up in Emerson's hands."

If they're so damned concerned about "public money" ending up in the wrong hands, why are Neil McFarlane, Randy Stedman, Shelly Lomax, Harry Saporta, Jay Jackson, etc still there?!!  

Jay Jackson, btw (according to ATU Union President Shirley Block) secretly audio/video records workers), which is illegal. 

The job is psychological. You get beaten up by the public and the Agency. Mr. Emerson's lawsuit is something that I hope leads to a government investigation of Trimet, their insurer, and their bought and paid for IME.  

js...

source: Accidents in the Workplace - 1971

SOUND FAMILIAR?

LABOR 

New Study Says 1 Out of Every 5 Corporate Bosses Is a Psychopath

CEO psychopaths are a lot more common than we thought.

By Michael Arria /  AlterNet

September 17, 2016

7K140

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Photo Credit: sarahdahmer, Flickr

According to a new study, one out of every five corporate bosses is a psychopath.

The study surveyed 261 corporate professionals and determined that their "clinically elevated levels of psychopathy" were on par with the prison population. Nathan Brooks, a forensic psychologist at Bond University and researcher on this study, told ABC, "Their personality usually leads them to exploit every avenue open to them, whether it's in a criminal setting, or within organizations."

Psychopathy is often defined as a clinical disorder, characterized by a lack of empathy and narcissistic traits. One out of every 100 people is believed to be a psychopath, but this investigation shows that the numbers for CEOs are much larger.

According to Brooks, a certain "successful psychopath" has been allowed to rise in the corporate world, despite the fact that they're more likely to break the law or engage in unethical activity. "We hope to implement our screening tool in businesses so that there's an adequate assessment to hopefully identify this problem—to stop people sneaking through into positions in the business that can become very costly," said Brooks.

The study was conducted by Brooks along with colleagues Katarina Fritzon (also of Bond University) and Simon Croom of the University of San Diego. They presented their findings at the Australian Psychological Society Congress.