The Split

Brothers and Sisters of Veolia (Phx),

I’m sure by now you have heard the talk that’s going around regarding the separation of the North and South garages.  Allow me to speculate on the reasons why this is happening, and by the way, there’s only one “entity” who will benefit from this transition not “if” but when this happens. 

   Recently, we received official confirmation of a plan that is “disturbing” to say the least.  There were always rumors swirling about what was going to happen with the North Facility, but until we saw it on paper, we didn’t really “know” anything.  It was paramount that if and when the information could be confirmed, above all else, it would be accurate.  The City plans to have a provider other than Veolia in charge of service requirements that the North Garage is responsible for. 

  When the labor agreements of the three unions at Phoenix expire, it is conceivable that it will be on the very day that Veolia’s contract with the City expires on 06-30-10.  Currently, the City of Phoenix is in an option year with Veolia and no plans to write a multi year agreement are in the works.  This is no coincidence; they’ve been planning this division of the Veolia Phoenix bargaining unit for a while now. 

                           Once bitten…

After our strike in 2000, someone near the top of the City of Phoenix food chain said “Never again.” and the motives for the dismantling of our Union were born. 

  It would be the last time that they would allow a branch of city government (Public Transit) to be held liable for stopping the “BEST RUN CITY IN THE WORLD” right in their tracks. 

   I can only imagine what 1 week solid of no buses would have done to the incoming workload that the city endures.  The complaints and concerns either phoned or sent in by those ranging from the homeless to House Representatives must have been daunting.  Both the poor and the very rich are deeply affected by the loss of public transportation.  The ironic thing was that a huge amount of the workforce that utilized transit as a way to commute consisted of “low paid” city and state employees.  So basically, after a week of this, not much got done.  Before they knew it, they had no tellers, no administrative assistants no clerics, or cafeteria workers to do the work because they didn’t have a means to get there.  And that means that some manager had to pick up the slack of the ones who couldn’t get to work.  Thousands of complaints and requests and work orders concerning every frontline facet of city government poured in every day.  It hurt them badly.  So much so, that The Arizona Republic devoted the editorials to slamming the Union and its Membership.  They too, had a lot of employees who took the bus to work.  What can you say except “Don’t piss off the newspaper.”?  Whoever was running the show at that time (Rimza) earned his paycheck that week… His successors promised that it wouldn’t happen again, so they devised a plan, and their ultimate goal is simply this: Dismantle the Union.

Debbie in charge

How does dismantling the Union benefit the City?  It’s the money that’s poured into transit that’s concerning them.  They see one obstacle in their plan to save hundreds of thousands of dollars every year and that would be us; you and me brother.  It’s the Union that’s keeping them from saving money and putting it in the pockets of those of whom they deem more deserving of it.  In case you haven’t heard, five hundred city jobs are on the block, but as of this writing, Executive Board Officer Mike Hennessey informs me of an article on the back page that says the police and fire fighters are getting a sizeable raise. They have been glorified since 911 and the City of Phoenix (always on the cutting edge) gives them a raise for putting their lives on the line a mere 7 years later.

The five hundred jobs that are being cut range from parks and recreation, all the way to administration.  Nobody is safe, except for us that is.  For as of this moment, we have legal and binding contract language and a law that keeps them from separating us and whittling us down until we have the same rights as every other “at will employee” in the country.  Employees in our trade don’t usually make much unless there’s a Union to negotiate a decent contract.  Otherwise, you are just a drone who is treated with bias and everything depends on how long your nose is.  The City could save millions over the course of a couple of years without a Union presence.  If anyone tells you different, then they’re either working for the other side, or they can’t see the forest for the trees.  This is not about safety or management expertise because frankly, they haven’t proven to me that they give a shit about our passengers.  It’s about one thing and one thing only.  Money. 

   The City is in a financial dilemma; they are so very concerned about the “appearance” of innovation, that they forgot that they had to pony up the dough to make it happen.  The city’s Director of Public Transit wanted to make an “impact” on the way people can commute, and she made an impact alright. 

    All of the money spent on fareboxes and smartcards was an enormous misuse of funds from my point of view.  Does any one out there remember that driver who wrote the Arizona Republic about the fare collection and specifically the issues of “transfers”?  He had a great idea.  “Fifty cents a ride, period.”  No computers, no transfers, no B.S.  You put two quarters in the farebox for each time you get on.  That’s it! 

    And the technology for this revolutionary idea would be a slot in the top of a square box.  The problem with this idea was that it wouldn’t cost millions of dollars.

    So they bought the most complex, hardest to use, passenger unfriendly piece of junk they could find, and made someone very rich.  “Overkill” is a good word to describe the most retarded piece of machinery on the bus.  Lots of lights and cool noises along with the best way to get an Operator in a hostile confrontation is what they paid 16 million dollars for.

But wait, there’s more!  How bout’ the good old VMS system “that was meant to exonerate Operators” in cases of negative interactions with the public.  Tell me something, how many of you out there have actually been called in and “commended” by a manager about what you did right according to the video footage?

The Cotton Express

The ultimate goal is to save as much as they can so they can use the difference from the savings in another area.  They will do whatever’s in their power to trim costs, and both you and I, and every other Bus Operator will feel it in some way.  If they could get away with paying a menial wage to transport our “Million Dollar Cargo” they would do it, in a heartbeat.  The North Facility will be the first garage affected.  The North Garage and its work will be awarded to a transit provider other than Veolia.  By doing this, one can only assume that the City’s plan is to splinter the Union into a group of smaller bargaining units because it’s easier to battle a bunch of little armies individually, rather than the great big one.  Smaller bargaining units mean smaller work actions, or strikes.  Each of the smaller bargaining units will have a contract ending on a different date.  It would be much easier to snuff the work action of a small bargaining unit because they could still run a Sunday service schedule with the remaining bargaining units.  If the City awarded the work of the three facilities to a single company like Veolia, it would mean unity amongst the brethren of our great Membership at contract time, and they can’t have that. 

Starting to make sense now? 

Divide and Conquer.

That’s three different transit companies, three different sets of policies, three different sets of rules and most important: Three “different” Contracts with three different dates of expiration.  I got the distinct impression from one of our upper management people that this has been the plan all along.  Driving a stake through the heart of the Granddaddy of bargaining units (Veolia Phx) was a brilliant idea from a bean counter’s perspective.  The City has shown how much we (as Operators) count in the grand scheme of things, and the power we currently have will disappear as soon as “she” gets her way.  After 2010, there will no longer be a threat of a citywide work stoppage.  Add to this the nature of the “at will” employee who believes he can be fired if he doesn’t show up for work regardless of a strike, and you got “service”.  Like it or not, whoever is not union will cross the picket lines and they’ll do it with the help of Sheriff Joke’s posse.  How do I know this?

Because there was a rumor of a work stoppage at the RCC a couple of weeks ago and his men showed up at the airport “just to keep everyone safe”. 

Bullshit. 

It was to intimidate anyone who was even entertaining the “thought” of attempting to defy the city managed airport in hopes of getting a wage higher than $10.71 per hour (that’s less than half of the top wage Operator at Veolia Phoenix).   

Disgruntled?

For those of you who are “disgruntled” about what the Union has been able to achieve over the last 60 years, you should count your blessings, it could be much worse.

   The Union hall occasionally receives calls from Bus Operators around the country asking about jobs in the Phoenix area. And if you look at what we have compared to the rest of the transit employees around the nation, it’s easy to see why they want to come here.  I’m not going to sit here and proclaim that Phoenix has the best wages and benefits or working conditions of all the other properties nationwide, but I will say that we’ve got it better than most.  Thirteen paid holidays, a set of all inclusive Doctor’s notes that have a 364 day limit each, and wages that top $21 dollars per hour.  I agree that we deserve more, but if we are weak in numbers, or worse, solidarity, we’re screwed.  This is why the recent attempt to replace us with another union was such a hot topic at the last meeting.  This is very sad because of how far we’ve come.  At present, the top wage at the RCC is $11.78 per hour. This is far below every one else in the valley and approximately $6 per hour below the average top wage for the other 6 properties we represent. The Operator with the highest seniority on the property has 30 years of service that was recognized by the Company from his previous employer but only makes 1 dollar more than a brand new Operator from the same garage. There are others whose seniority dates back to their respective former employers.  I am perplexed at how these folks are even able to pay their bills (rent, car payment, etc.); I suppose that the Operators could live like kings if it weren’t for the ever present nuisances of food and electricity.  

13 sea wreck

   If decertification would prevail, not only our contract, but the best part of our 13© would be gone (poof!), and the ATU would no longer have “first right of refusal” to organize the Light Rail.  In short, there would be no Union to represent the LRT Operators.  The client’s provider (Alternative Concepts Inc.) would undoubtedly hire from the outside, and would strive to improve the profit margin.  This will be simple to do because it will mean the pesky 3rd party (our Union) that’s always “robbing” them for a livable rate of pay would be out of the picture.   They would have a low overhead because Union benefits /wages wouldn’t be a factor anymore; but then again, they wouldn’t be at Veolia Phoenix anymore either.  Decertification would mean the end of our contract with Veolia, and the thought of no contract at Veolia Phx is terrifying.  It would also mean that everyone on the street would be eligible for hire at ACI; not just the senior Bus Operators who are employed at Phoenix.  Do you think they would abide by the language in a document that was now “null and void”?  If you said “No” then we’re on the same page.

The Cotton Crystal Ball

Back to “The Split”.  So what will happen then?  Well, this writer sees the Director of Public Transit potentially bidding out the North Garage work to yet another provider i.e. MV, First Group etc.  Try to imagine a Company other than Veolia being awarded the work.  If such a thing happens, there will be bedlam.  For the City to award the work to another contractor, they will have to abide by the 13 © agreement or risk a major lawsuit filed by the Union.  To avoid this, the City will offer Operators who are bidding the North Facility’s work two choices: stick with Veolia and move South OR hire on with the new provider who bid the lowest for the North Facility’s work.  If all of us bid South Garage work, then there will be too many Operators, while at the North Garage there will be a new Company trying to beef up staff to make service.  The now “over staffed” South Garage will undoubtedly have to lay off approximately 300 or so Operators, but those Operators won’t have trouble finding work, it just won’t be for Veolia Phoenix.  In other words, the Company we know as Veolia will be shattered and nothing will ever be the same again.

Homage

Did anyone stop to think about the ramifications of driving a wedge through the heart of everything we love about our benefits and wages?   When we are split in 2010, we will long for a time when we had enough unity to get what we needed AND wanted.  If a petition “to replace” (or whatever it said) were to come to life, it would mean the death of an organization that prides itself on protecting its Members, and bettering their livelihoods.  This would be like sending all of us back in time 60 years when the “union” was comprised of a few pissed off men who were huddled in a hapless mass trying to get chartered, organized and recognized as a union just on the basis of safety and injustice.  These were brothers united.

They had to be.  They were young and inexperienced in a world filled with legal issues and THAT is dangerous.  So they stuck together for decades depending on one another and they persevered through many summers without air conditioning, safe equipment, and with the responsibility of handling money with the general public.  These Operators made considerably less in relation to the inflation rates of their time.  The sacrifices made by those who came before us cannot be overstated.  They went without, so that we could have.  What would they think about our bickering?  If we could summon them, they would surely clunk our heads together.  And what do you suppose the City learns about us as a Union when they see this? 

They see division.  They suspect that it’s every man for himself at Local 1433, and that the house appears to be built on a foundation of sand instead of rock.