Northwest Labor Press is an independent union-supported newspaper founded in 1900. Our print version is mailed twice a month to about 45,000 members of over three dozen local unions in Oregon and Southwest Washington. Our online version has been maintained here since 1997.
Tag:
ATU Local 757
In Memoriam
Wally Feist, 1949-2020
A former financial secretary-treasurer and briefly president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 757, he worked at TriMet from 1977 to 2011.
Collective bargaining
TriMet declares impasse in contract bargaining
An arbitrator will decide if the transit agency can scrap its mechanic apprenticeship program.
Worker safety
Transit: Ridership plummets, but no workers are facing layoff, and cleaners are working overtime
In Eugene and Salem, bus service is now free. In Portland, new machines are disinfecting buses and trains with peroxide mist nightly.
Collective bargaining
Support your transit workers!
Local 757 says TriMet plans to eliminate mechanic apprenticeship programs and privatize bus service for the benefit of big companies like Amazon and FedEx.
Collective bargaining
TriMet stuck on ending apprenticeship
Months of pushback from Amalgamated Transit Union Local 757 has so far failed to persuade TriMet management to put the brakes on a plan to end its apprenticeship programs for bus and light rail mechanics.
Collective bargaining
Labor Commissioner Val Hoyle to TriMet: Don’t eliminate apprenticeships!
TriMet has been proposing in union contract bargaining to scrap its bus and light rail maintenance mechanic training programs.
Collective bargaining
TriMet talks off to rough start
TriMet wants to get rid of its bus and light rail maintenance mechanic training programs. And maybe contract out maintenance of the electric and hybrid buses it wants to buy.
Building our communities
ATU Local 757 picnic raffle raises $965 for Labor’s Community Services Agency
The money was raised in a 50/50 drawing the union held at its annual picnic at Blue Lake Park last month.
Building our communities
C-TRAN named North American mid-sized ’Transit System of the Year’
The honor was conferred by the American Public Transportation Association.
People
A life-saving school bus driver
The focus and reflexes of a member of Local 757 may have saved lives in a near-miss last month.
Union Organizing
Charter bus firm would rather give up contract than operate union
When drivers voted to unionize, MTR Western terminated its contract to run Columbia County’s CC Rider transit service.
Jobs
Transit union cries foul as TriMet contracts out shuttle service for its own drivers
Is Oregon’s largest transit agency incapable of operating a single shuttle bus? You might think so given a recent TriMet board action.
Collective bargaining
New TriMet Lift contracts raise wages up to $3.91 an hour
Problems with bathroom breaks and rider wait times are still unresolved.
Collective bargaining
Union nemesis retires at TriMet
“I wished him well … and told him to stay away from ATU,” said union president Shirley Block.
Union Organizing
Bus drivers unionize at Columbia County’s CC Rider
Low pay is the biggest issue for drivers who provide bus service between Clatskanie, Rainier, St. Helens, Scappoose, and Vernonia.
Union Organizing
North coast bus drivers unionize
A group of 20 underpaid drivers and mechanics in Astoria and Warrenton Oregon have joined ATU Local 757.
Collective bargaining
Special ed bus drivers ratify long-delayed contract with Portland Public Schools
The new agreement raises starting pay to $18.50 an hour — up from $16.25 currently.
Jobs
Union-backed coalition pushes bold vision for Broadway corridor project
Redevelopment of the 32-acre downtown site will set the tone for what kind of city Portland will be.
Collective bargaining
Columbia Area Transit in Hood River signs first union contract with ATU Local 757
The agreement provides an immediate 10 percent raise followed by three annual raises totaling 8.7 percent over the life of the four-year agreement.
Union democracy
Incumbent slate re-elected at ATU Local 757
At the top of the slate, Shirley Block was re-elected with 55 percent of the vote, outpolling four challengers.
