Which would you like first?
The good news is that the Internet brings the world to you. The bad news is that the Internet brings the world to you!
Every time I spend a couple of hours surfing, I must get stupider because I keep coming up with more questions I can't answer. I don't think the questions are all that important so by inference, neither are the answers. Perhaps I have too much free time (easily solved if a 62 year old man with a spotty health history could find a job) or maybe I'm just anal about the details and obsessed because I only know bits and pieces.
It appears that in 2007, Ms. Michelle Estrada filed a discrimination suit in the Colorado District Court and named First Transit, Inc., First Transit Transportation, LLC., William Hyche, Roger Chapin and Jacquelyn Perez as defendants.
I found the Stipulation and Protective Order, dated December 11th, 2007, and decided to explore a little farther. I'd like to meet Ms. Perez and find out more. I'll query Pacer but it cost me 8 cents a page and I'm not sure how curious I really am. I know who Roger "You're Fired" Chapin is and William Hyche seems like a name I should remember but I have no idea who Jacquelyn Perez is or what she does/did.
I find it interesting that First Transit thought it needed a "gag order"to protect it's financial information. Isn't the majority of the information public record? I added "contact RTD and get copies of the third party contracts"on my todo list. Sigh, more work.
I wonder how many hats Bill Jones wears?
"This study is tainted from the outset," says Bill Jones, political director for the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1001, which represents 1,600 RTD employees. "It's money wasted to pad the pockets of a few friends. And an be instantly discredited."
WestWord
January 24th, 1996
It's simple, says Bill Jones of the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 1001, which represents 2,000 RTD employees. The answer lies in a 1989 decision by the Colorado Legislature that required RTD to privatize 20 percent of its route service. In 2001, the number was upped to 35 percent, even though local providers hadn't been leaping at the opportunity to cart Denver's carless culture about town.
WestWord
October 3rd, 2002
"The whole thing has been a sham since the start," says Bill Jones, a lobbyist for the Amalgamated Transit Union, Local 1001, which represents bus drivers employed directly by RTD. "Privatization might sound good for the taxpayer except for the crappy service we've gotten. We've always said that the privatized buses should be painted bright yellow, because we want people to know the difference between them and us.
"While union drivers were able to bail RTD out of the situation with TCT, Jones says the district will be out of luck next time. "The first part is that at the time, we were under 20 percent privatization. The problem now is that with 35 percent contracted, RTD drivers cannot possibly step in and take over -- we don't have the manpower. The second part is, we, the union, are not going to lift one finger to help. Last time, with TCT, they missed so many runs that they forced our members to cancel their vacations and they wouldn't allow anyone to take days off. We literally had people here who worked for six or seven weeks straight withou
t a day off. It was just horrible."
t a day off. It was just horrible."Rocky Mountain News
sorry, lost the date citation but I'll bet I can find if again.
"They have, in fact, been successful in getting more people in the door," said Bill Jones, attorney for Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1001, which represents RTD's drivers and mechanics.
"I can't speak to what their retention rate is right now, but that remains a problem because we are a paid training ground for someone who wants to get a CDL then go work somewhere else."
Rocky Mountain News
November 14th, 2006
Lawyer, spokesman, lobbyist and more. Pass along my apologies to Mr. Jones for ever wondering why he was paid over $42K for the last half of 2007. However, I do have to ask about painting privatized buses bright yellow. Is that really what he meant to say?
Speaking of Bill Jones, I have to ask about the Louis Lacastro grievance that ATU Local 1001 filed against RTD a few years ago. It seems that Louie was fired when he didn't return from medical leave and that the local claimed RTD violated "proper cause" as defined in the CBA.
"The crux of this arbitration revolves around the question of whether or not the Grievant involuntarily resigned by abandoning his job, or if the Grievant was terminated for “proper cause”. Both RTD and the Union uniformally apply the term “proper cause” to be synonymous with “just cause” and assign it the same import, meaning and application. Substantial controversy exists surrounding the justification and circumstances that caused RTD to terminate the Grievant. As argued by RTD, the Grievant involuntarily resigned his job when he failed to report to duty upon expiration of a medical leave. It is the Union’s contention that the Grievant did not involuntarily resign and, in fact, he was improperly terminated by RTD. Such termination by RTD is in violation of the “proper cause” provisions of the CBA. "
The Regional Transportation District and Alamalgamated Transit Union
March 17, 2003
Haven't we heard of an old white guy on medical leave who keeps asking about "just cause" and only gets ridiculed for his efforts? Hmmmm, interesting. I'll have to make an inquiry on behalf of all old white guys.
And I can't forgot Ms. Yvette Salazar who also wears many hats. She was a past Business Agent according to the ATU Local 1001 2007 LM-2.
Also the past President which makes sense if she was the past Business Agent:
Yvette Salazar, president of the 1,740-member Local 1001, told her membership in a recent column that they are the ones who built the agency's reputation as one of the best transit systems in the U.S. and Canada. If the pay freeze is over for managers, then it should be over for the work force as well, she said.
"The big thaw is now upon us," Salazar wrote. "We expect a fair increase in wages that we have already earned but were willing" to forgo during the last three years.
Rocky Mountain News
January 5th, 2006
Also, the Assistant Trustee for ATU Local 1755 according to the Local 1755 2007 LM-2.
I do apologize for questioning why it seems to cost a half million dollars a year to pay the officers and employees of Local 1001. Anyone who works as hard as these guys do, deserves the money (except for bus drivers, of course). When was Holman elected President and Business Agent? A serious question because I wasn't employeed by First Transit or a ATU member in 2006.
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