SPLITTING OF THE NORTH AND SOUTH GARAGES.
Have any of the Brain Children in the City bothered to sit down and consider the overall
impact this split is going to have on ALL??? They say it is going to be more cost effective, I am still trying to figure this
one out. When the split comes this is going to mean 1 extra management team from who ever is the successful bidder, to me
that means EXTRA COST!!!!!!!!!!!!
When we asked Debbie Cotton some questions she talked in a big circle and her only real
answer was to ask Larry Kucera as he has the answers, if nothing else Debbie Cotton has definitely polished up on her political
double talk and fits in great with the rest of them. Larry Kucera only knows as much as the City is telling him, so for her
to give us that answer once more just goes to prove that she really doesn’t give a Dam what happens to the Union Members
that are going to be affected!!!!!
What is going to happen to the bottom 350 operators at Phoenix?
Once more we can’t get that answer from the City. What is going to happen to the Medical, 401k, accrued vacation time / sick days, and all other benefits enjoyed at Phoenix? Nobody can give us that answer, GO FIGURE. As I see it this is nothing more than
a Ploy by the City of Phoenix Transit Department to do nothing
more than split up the bargaining unit from 1 big body to 2 smaller bodies. But in doing so do they care what happens to the
Operators? Not that I can see. Do they care about your well being and that of your families? I don’t think so, as long
as they keep getting their weekly paychecks with no change to them ALL IS WELL. And lets all remember it is the Transit Operators
out there on a daily basis that puts the paycheck in the pockets of the City’s Transit Department Personal!!!!!!!! One
would really think that the City would be a little more inclined to take care of it’s Transit Operators who by the day
are becoming harder and harder to find.
OPERATOR ASSAULTS
The Operator assaults are going up as the ridership goes up, due to the failing economy.
Is the City or the Company doing any more to prevent them?????? If you are assaulted and defend yourself you can guarantee
yourself a hearing, and if the company doesn’t like what they see on the DVR you can be guaranteed some time off if
not termination. This is the easy solution to the assault situation, rather than doing what most major cities do by hiring
a real Transit Police Force That carry Guns and actually have the power to arrest people. Sure the City’s Transit Department
has hired Transit Security, but how many of them have the total power of an actual cop? Are they riding the buses in plain
clothes on a daily basis? The only reason there is as many Transit Security as there is now is because of the light rail start
up in December, but if you remember the article in the Arizona
Republic, it was made well known that these security officers would only
have radios so as to be able to call a real cop if needed. So it really has been broadcast that we really don’t have
a Transit Cop Force to reckon with.
LIGHT RAIL
Light Rail talks are continuing on a weekly basis. Ron McKay of ACI wants to gat a contract
done so that he can start his hiring of Rail Operators. Talks have been going very well, and hopefully it won’t be a
whole lot longer before we have something in place. There are still a few issues regarding the MOU, for some strange reason
the CITY wants one and we don’t see a need for one, so we are still working on that issue.
