|
WSTA HR Roundtable
Meeting Minutes
Friday, February 8, 2008
Attendees:
Ed Ruttledge, Intercity Transit
Christine DiRito, Intercity Transit
Janice McCarthy, Twin Transit
Michelle Parvinen, WSTA
Jerry Spears, WSTIP
Mary Adams, Lane Transit
David Collier, Lane Transit
Alberto Lara, Pierce Transit
Kitty Wold, Pierce Transit
Lourdes Shuart, Island
Transit
Colleen McKimmie, Island Transit
Louisa Hernandez, Ben Franklin Transit
Sandie Barnhart, Clallam Transit
Jenny Huff, Mason Transit
Dianne Koshelnik, Community Transit
Chris Beck, Community Transit
Agenda Items:
1. Long Term Care
Insurance
Island Transit – Offers this as a supplemental insurance through AFLAC
as a payroll deduction.
Mason Transit – Offers this as a supplemental insurance through AFLAC as
a payroll deduction.
Community Transit – AFLAC manages their FSA and they limit the number of
products AFLAC is allowed to sell to the employees.
Long Term Care is not one of them.
Intercity Transit – It was noted there is concern about offering up a
number of supplemental insurances in a union environment as these can
become bargained items later.
2. Diversity
Recruiting
Ed
Ruttledge suggested reaching out to high school counselors to remind
them Transit is a “family wage” career choice.
He has made contact with Kelly at the Washington School
Counselors Association. The
Association is holding a conference on February 29 and March 1, 2008.
Kelly stated they would be willing to place information on a
table at the conference. Ed
suggested we ask if we can attend and provide the information ourselves.
Michelle Parvinen offered to assist with preparing a statewide
message.
Mason Transit – Has begun attending local Career Fairs for junior
high and high school students.
Feedback is very positive.
Lane Transit – Participates in local Career Fairs.
Brings an LTD coach for tours, mock interviews, takes pictures
and bios of current employees (what they love about their jobs) and
provides Spanish speaking interviewers.
3. Statewide
HR Database
WSTIP
has offered to provide the technical support needed to host the
database. The group needs
to decide what information should be contained within the database and
how to query the information.
The database could possibly be used for interest arbitration,
salary surveys, job classification matches, position description
development, etc. It was
decided to develop a work group to begin work on the mechanics of the
database. The workgroup was
established as follows:
Debra Hughes – Ben Franklin Transit
Chris Beck – Community Transit
Kitty Wold – Pierce Transit
Ed Ruttledge – Intercity Transit
Mary Adams – Lane Transit
David Collier – Lane Transit
C-Tran – Representative to be Determined
Kitsap Transit – Representative to be Determined
Jerry Spears – WSTIP
4. D&A Testing
Issues
Christine DiRito with Intercity Transit discussed a couple of D&A
testing issues she has encountered in recent months to receive input
from the group.
5. Labor Update
Pierce Transit
Alberto Lara
is the new VP of HR.
Kelly Johnston, was hired as Training and Employee
Development manager leading an organizational development effort along
with an outside consultant.
The agency was approved to go over 1,000 employees in 2008.
They will be adding 75 new employees, this includes 35 new
Operators. The HR
Department will be going from 9 to 14 people, a 50% increase in
staffing. The group
welcomed Alberto and Kitty and wished them luck with their upcoming
growth.
Contract expires June 1, 2008.
Negotiations begin in April.
They are also forming a Public Safety Department – Chief of Police,
fully commissioned police officer and 15 other employees.
Intercity Transit
Operators are with ATU which recently formed their own local.
Vehicle Maintenance is with IAM.
Recently failed Mediation and went to Interest Arbitration.
Historically, Lane,
Salem, C-Tran, Kitsap and Ben Franklin Transit
have been used as comparables.
Bruce Schroeder was counsel for Intercity and Gary Axon was
assigned as the Arbitrator.
IAM was interested in “total compensation”.
This meant looking at health club dues, etc. as part of the
overall hourly wage. IAM
also attempted to use Pierce Transit as a comparable.
This was not stipulated prior to arrival at the arbitration.
Intercity expects to receive response from the Arbitrator by
mid-March.
Lane Transit
ATU asked for 42 changes to the contract during the last negotiation.
New bill passed in Oregon making transit
a strike prohibited group, and requiring binding arbitration to settle
contracts. It is an “either-or” model where the Arbitrator has to
choose one offer or the other, and cannot choose parts of each as in the Washington model.
Tentative agreement was reached end of November.
Twin Transit
One year ago employee de-certified from the ATU.
However, the employees just unionized with Teamsters.
Negotiations are currently underway.
Ben Franklin Transit
ATU and Teamsters are in effect until 2010, IAM expires end of 2008.
Community Transit
IAM expired December 2006.
Settled November 2007.
IAM Supervision expired May 2007.
Tentative agreement voted down twice, going to mediation.
In negotiations with ATU, expired December 2007.
Next Meeting:
Community Transit – May 2008
|
