From Portland Afoot

The 2003 working and wage agreement between TriMet and Amalgamated Transit Union Local 757 was intended to stay in effect for only six years, but the parties' failure to reach a new agreement before the contract term ended in November 2009 meant that TriMet's 2,500 organized employees continued to work under the contract.

Contents 1 Wages for unionized TriMet workers 1.1 Drivers 1.2 Top-paid union workers 1.3 Annual raises 2 Benefits for unionized TriMet workers 3 Database of all TriMet employee salaries 4 External links

[edit] Wages for unionized TriMet workers

[edit] Drivers

After their third year of service, most bus, MAX and streetcar drivers earn about $25 per hour, as of October 2010, plus overtime opportunities and benefits. Light rail and streetcar operators make somewhat more.

During their first six months, bus operators start at $14 an hour, and rail operators (who usually served as bus operators first) start at $20. They receive regular step increases over the first three years of service.

[edit] Top-paid union workers

The top-paid workers in the collective bargaining agreement are operations computer technology specialists, who earned about $44 per hour in 2010. The second highest-paid was the streetcar superintendent, who earned about $37.50.

[edit] Annual raises

Under the 2003 contract, wage schedules at every level received cost-of-living increases each year at a minimum of 3 percent and a maximum of 5 percent. TriMet announced in September 2010 that it would freeze the wage in 2011 and increase health premiums by the additional cost in subsequent years. The union challenged that decision, and the two parties have been in a legal fight since over whether TriMet had the right to freeze benefits with the contract's expiration.

See this excerpt from the contract for a full schedule of wages, as of 2004. All wage levels have since risen, usually by 3 percent annually.

[edit] Benefits for unionized TriMet workers

Under the terms of the 163-page contract, unionized TriMet workers received:

• Between one and six weeks' annual paid vacation, depending on years of continuous service.
• No medical premiums or deductables for employees, spouses and dependents.
• $5 co-pays per medical visit.
• Retirement with a pension and full medical coverage at age 58 with at least 10 years of service, or at any age with 30 years of service. Reduced pension at age 55. Pension payments in 1992 were $42 a month per year of service, a minimum of $520 monthly, and have since been raised with the COLA each February.
• Full payment of medical costs for pre-1992 retirees.
• Full payment of federal Medicare premiums for post-1992 retirees.
• After their retirement and death, 16 years of medical benefits for the employee's spouse and dependents.
• Free transportation on the TriMet system for all employees, retirees and their spouses and dependents.

[edit] Database of all TriMet employee salaries

See full article: TriMet employee salaries.

[edit] External links

• copy of contract
• Northwest Labor Press article on renewal negotiations