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TEA Times
Reorganization of Transit Planners
The Department of Transportation has begun a reorganization as
a result of Initiative 695. Five transit planners
have been reassigned to the Transit Design and Construction
Section until funding for their positions runs out later this
year. These planners are currently Local 17 members
under the 17E contract for transit planners. This
group chose to affiliate with Local 17 at the time of the
merger.
TEA is evaluating several actions with our attorney and will soon take appropriate steps to protect the positions and budget of D&C workers. All jobs in Transit Design and Construction are part of the "body of work" petitioned for by TEA. If there are layoffs, TEA positions can not be taken by Local 17 members.
May 9th Meeting held in Renton
The general membership meeting for May was held in Renton to
accommodate the Renton Construction staff. The
meeting was held on May 9th at a local
restaurant. Eleven members
attended. Rotating the location of the general
membership meeting to the various work sites of TEA members was
a goal set by the new board members earlier this
year. The Renton meeting is a good example of the
commitment the board has made toward member
involvement. Thanks to all who
attended.
Court Actions
TEA has a pretrial conference is set for July 14, 2000 in
Thurston County Superior Court. The purpose of the
meeting is to review pretrial briefs with Judge Christine
Pomeroy. This trial will force PERC (Washington
State's Public Employment Relations Commission) to conduct
evidentiary hearings on the original petitions that TEA
filed. PERC has held these petitions in abeyance for
several years without taking any action. A court date
will be set at the pretrial hearing.
Contributions Needed
TEA's attorney is currently preparing to file an injunction
against PERC (Washington State's Public Employment Relations
Commission) for their failure to proceed with hearings on our
original petitions. The filing and court appearances
will take additional financial resources. We are
requesting $10 per month to help with the effort. To
make a contribution, please contact the TEA Treasurer, Ken
Madden.
GREAT VICTORY!!!
KING COUNTY SETTLES WITH FORMER CONTRACT WORKERSFor those who haven't heard, Ron Sims announced on June 7th that the County had agreed to a 16+ million dollar settlement with the Clark Case plaintiffs. The settlement includes vacation and other benefits (including State retirement) that were denied a class of employees now called "permatemps" and "common law employees" by the courts. If you know that you are or think that you might be one of this group you can obtain information at the web site of Bendich, Stobaugh and Strong: http://www.bs-s.com/kc.htm
Next General Membership Meeting
You are invited to attend the next monthly meeting on June 14th
during lunch at the Elliott Bay Bookstore Cafe.
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