Letter from Shirley Block to Secretary of State

Let me introduce myself. My name is Shirley Block. I am a 32 year employee of this company that I have respect for the name TriMet, but not the management team in charge now.   I don't have time loss issues, medical issues are not coming to work. I do my job and do it well. In a sense I am not a trouble or costly employee to this company that cost them to shed out money in my defense. The top three are liars that intimidate the rest of the team that understand what is needed to get this company back on track to not only help the employees but the Community that rely on this company for transportation. I am not afraid of being fired by this company for speaking out. If they chose to do this with my perfect work record and the millions of dollars that I have saved them it only goes to prove that they are idiots.
When they chose to hire managers on top of managers and take away from the working force to keep this company working it's ludicrous. I can remember back in the 80’s when they were in the save boat and did a buyout all the managers took on because it was truly a top heavy company with people getting fat pay checks sitting around going to meetings and doing nothing but getting rewarded for work we were doing. Well guess what, that MONSTER is back. We all see them tripping over each other. Spending the tax payers hard earned money.  They have told lies upon lies to the media just to save face for themselves. I invite anyone to come to Ruby Junction off Burnside and 199th and see the condition we have to work in. We have to beg just to get our garbage dumped. I can show you emails. The carpet in the dispatch center is a health problem. It hasn't been cleaned in years. The ventilation is breath taking. Supervisors and co-enforcers or out on the street without proper training. We are eight people on maintenance rail side from when we opened the Westside in 1998, short nine journeyman mechanic, short in dispatch, rail controllers, door bridge plate and switches are in failure mode. But we continue to build railroads that are good for the community but we can’t maintain and support the ones we have due to very poor management.  But here we are foaming over with high paid managers that are running scared. Bless their hearths. I would rather tell the truth and shame the devil. That would be you Neil and Randy. I could go on and on but let’s me say what’s really on my mind. I will leave the dog and pony show up to them and brace for the after math.
I have documentation that I can prove almost 300 or more assaults have been on TriMet employees due to like of training. With the audit released we are asking for Neil McFarland and Randy Stedman to disappear. It is time for a change. We need to move forward get a contract in place. We spent Tuesday from about 9:00 AM 02.04.14 to Wednesday 8:30 AM 02.05.14 in a heated negotiation that lead to nowhere. Yes you heard me right. Randy is stealing the medical from our retirees and our new hires. The folks that are married there will be no more double covered on benefits. Your coverage is not the same. As we kept trying to negotiate Randy kept shooting us down. We had only two days to work on medical by coming to the table on Tuesday the 4th at 9:00 AM and worked until Wednesday morning 9:00 AM around the clock with very little movement.  When you work over thirty years of your youth life for a company and is promised you will have health care for your senior years that is not privilege you have earned it. You forfeited your raises over the years to keep it. It was part of your contract negotiations over the years. We have two barriers to get this company back on track and that is Neil and Randy. Neil is letting Randy call all of the shots to keep this company in financial ruin. Ever since this man came on board the entire company has been told we don’t entertain morale. Just do your job. We have a grievance process in place that has worked well ever since I have worked here. The company and the union sit down on a panel and discuss the issues come to an agreement sign off and move forward. Randy looked at one of the grievances that I was involved in (Adam Young) and said this won’t work told his team send this supervisor back to operating a train and let the union move this to arbitration. This was one of his first moves that I know of over a year ago and it has been downhill from there for this company. These two men are destroying the morel, communication, safety, training level and most of all trust. We use to work as a family. They don’t have a clue that we live in the great northwest on a fault line surrounded by volcanoes. We are the folks that are along with police and fire that when a disaster of any kind strikes we are the ones that are called to bring out a warming bus to put people in until the Red Cross can seek shelter. We leave our families to sit on these 40 foot diesel machines as mini homes. Our mechanics keep them running. Our rail lines carry thousands a day. Our MOW workers keep the operating. WE ARE THE FRONT LINE EMPLOYEES. Not the fat cat’s that’s causing the money melt down. “If you fill me Let KATE hear from you.”