Articles

Source: ATU

Source: Article 49 of the MOU

1. It is the intent of the parties to fully comply with meal/rest periods for operators pursuant to Industrial Welfare Order 9-2001 as amended and effective July 1, 2004. The parties are committed to implement applicable provision within the spirit and intent of the law by the terms set forth below.
   
   
2. As soon as possible, but no later than the Third Run Bid of 2005, the parties agree to make adjustments to the system run cut to allow time for operator meal/rest periods where necessary. Implementation of these times and the processes should be made prior to the Third Run Bid of 2005. From time to time the system schedules may not permit the legal requirement of meal/rest periods for operators to be met and the parties agree to the following as a review and an adjustment process to bring the system run cut back into compliance. As negotiated this alternative scheduling and reconciliation process meets all legal requirements which become effective July 1, 2004. Once agreed there are no penalties other than which is negotiated here.
   
   
3. There will be a joint Schedule Adherence Review Committee made up of two members appointed by the ATU and two appointed by the Agency. The Committee will be charged with oversight and review procedures to ensure that Operator meal/rest periods are not reduced by insufficient running times in the run cut in any Run Bid. The Committee will create and review the survey forms which will be used to report and investigate run cut failures that reduce these negotiated meal/rest periods. In most cases, a problem found to be valid in one Run Bid will be adjusted according to the following example;
   
   In a three cycle Run Bid year all surveyed valid problems found in the run cut of one Run Bid reducing any break/meal period time will be adjusted after investigation as follows;
   
   Valid complaints in the First Run Bid will be adjusted by the Third Run Bid.
   Valid complaints in the Second Run Bid will be adjusted by the First Run Bid in the following year. Valid complaints in the Third Run Bid will be adjusted by the Second Run Bid in the following year.
   
   After investigation any meal/break period complaints found to be valid and not adjusted by the Agency by the above time schedule will result in a one hour penalty for each meal/rest period lost up to a maximum of one hour per employee work day and paid to all operators who actually worked that piece of work retroactive to date of complaint in the appropriate Run Bid. The penalty or penalties will continue to be paid until adjustment is made.
   
   Any meal/rest period complaints disputed by the parties will be resolved by an Expedited Arbitration process by a permanent neutral rendering a final and binding bench decision. The above penalties are the exclusive remedies for time issues arising under the terms of the Article. Any interpretation questions concerning the intent of this language and the processes of this section are subject to the normal contractual arbitration process. The Expedited Arbitration will address the time issues and the reasons each party feels their position is appropriate. The parties reserve the right to change arbitrators. There will be no attorneys, no transcripts and no written briefs.
   
   It is understood that the reduction or loss of meal/rest period time due to circumstances beyond the control of the Agency, for example, traffic accidents, incidents, temporary detours, railroad crossing delays, and delays due to inclement weather will not be considered as valid complaints for schedule changes or penalties.
   
   Decisions upholding the Agency will have no effect on the schedule and require no adjustments. The Committee should respond to invalid claims and the reasons for not needing schedule or run cut adjustments.
   
   Recovery/Layover Time is time used by the Agency to adjust the running time of the schedule due to the various situations not handled in the run cut.
   
   Recovery/Layover Time is used by the agency to keep the published schedule and handle various situations not contemplated in the run cut.
   
   Recovery/Layover Time is distinct time from Operator Meal/Rest Period time. Operator Meal/Rest Periods are times that are set aside for the use of the operator for a short rest, meals, or other personal needs. It is not intended to be used as schedule recovery/layover time.
   
   Operator Meal/Rest Periods shall be a least enough time to give 50 minutes total in a regular 8 hour day and scheduled approximately every two hours where possible. There is no rest period due for a total work period in a work day of less than 3.5 hours. This is usually a fragmented run or part time piece of work. Meal/Rest periods shall be computed as time worked. On split runs there is no requirement to provide the 30 minutes intended for compliance as a Meal Period where the length of the work pieces and period do not warrant.
   
   All Meal/Rest periods should be evenly distributed as possible through an operator’s work periods, 50 minutes in a work period that is straight and approximately 8 actual work hours and 80 minutes in a work period that exceeds 10 actual work hours but is not more than 12 hours in length.
   
   The time that would have been required to comply with the Meal Period time, 30 minutes, will be distributed through out the schedule as Rest Period time or taken during a non paid split work period in excess of one hour.
   
   

These provisions and the processes comply with the Order and all compliance requirements.

 

Source: Miller, Kaplan, & Arase

Source: Los Angeles Times

Drug Use Time Table
How Long Each Drug Stays In your Body..
Drugs            Misc Names            Dependence            Detection            Usage
                         Physical            Mental                         
OPIATES                                                              
Opium
Dover's Powder, Paregoric, Laudanum            High            High            2-4 days            Oral, smoked
Morphine            Morphine, Roxanol, Roxanol-SR            High            High            2-4 days            Oral, smoked, injected
Codeine            Tylenol w/Codeine, Empirin w/Codeine, Robitussin A-C, Fiorinal w/Codeine             Moderate            Moderate            2-4 days            Oral, injected
Heroin
Diacetylmorphine, Horse, Smack, Dragon's Tail            High            High            2-4 days            Injected, sniffed, smoked
Hydro-
morphone             Dilaudid            High            High            2-4 days            Oral, injected
Meperidine            Demerol, Mepergan, Pethidine            High            High            2-4 days            Oral, injected
Methadone            Dolophine, Methadone            High            Moderate            6-12 days            Oral, injected
Hydrocodone            Vicodin, Dilles            High            Low            1-6 Days            Oral
Oxycodone            Percodan, Percocet, Tylox            High            High            8-24 hours            Oral, injected
Other Opiates            Numorphan, Tussionex, Fentanyl, Darvon, Lomotil, Talwin            High-Low            High-Low            8-24 hours            Oral, injected
                         
DEPRESSANTS                                                              
Alcohol            Beer, Wine, Liquor            High            High            6 hrs. - 2 days             Oral
Barbiturates
Amytal, Butisol, Fiorinal, Nembutal, Seconal, Tuinal, Phenobarbital, Black Beauties            High            High            2-10 days            Oral
Benzo-
diazepines
Ativan, Dalmane, Diazepam, Librium, Xanax, Serax, Valium, Tranxene, Versed, Halcion, Paxipam, Restoril            High            High            1-6 weeks             Oral
Metha-
qualone            Quaalude            High            High            2 weeks             Oral
Glutethimide            Doriden            High            Moderate            2-10 days             Oral
Other Depressants             Equanil, Miltown, Noludar, Placidyl, Soma, Chloral Hydrate            Moderate            Moderate            2-7 days             Oral
                                                               
STIMULANTS                                                              
Cocaine
Coke, Flake, Snow, Crack            High            High            2-5 days             Sniffed, smoked, injected
Amphet-
amines
Biphematine, Delcobase, Desoxyn, Dexedrine, Obetrol, Reds            Moderate            High            1-2 days            Oral, injected
Phen-
metrazine            Preludin            Moderate            High            1-2 days            Oral, injected
Methyl-
phenidate            Ritalin            Possible            Moderate            1-2 days            Oral, injected
Nicotine            Cigarettes, Chewing Tobacco, Cigars            High            High            2-4 days             Sniffed, smoked, oral
Other Stimulants             Adipex, Cylert, Didrex, Ionamin, Plegine, Tenuate, Tepanil, Prelu-2            Moderate            High            1-2 days             Oral, injected
                                                               
HALLUCINOGENS                                                  
LSD            Acid, Microdot             None            Low            8-24 hours             Oral
Mescaline            Buttons, Cactus, Peyote            None            Moderate            2-3 days            Oral
Amphetamine Variants             2,5-DMA; PMA; STP; MDA; MDMA; TMA; DOM; DOB; Ecstasy            Unknown            Moderate            2-5 days             Oral, injected
Phencyclidine            PCP, Angel Dust, Hog            Unknown            High            2-4 days            Smoked, oral, injected
Marijuana
Pot, Acapulco Gold, Grass, Reefer, Sinsemilla, Thai Sticks            Unknown            Moderate            2 days -
11 weeks            Smoked, oral
Tetrahydro-cannabinol
THC, Marinol             Unknown            Moderate            2 days -
11 weeks            Smoked, oral
Hashish, Hashish Oil            Hash            Unknown            Moderate            2 days -
11 weeks            Smoked, oral
Other Hallucinogens            Bufotenine, Ibogaine, DMT, DET, Psilocybin, Psilocin, PCE, PCPy, TCP            None            Unknown            2-5 days             Smoked, oral, injected, sniffed

Source: New York MTA

February 9, 2009

Edwin Thomas a 46 years old, father of two children – an eighteen year old son and a 16 year old daughter – a Bus operator of seven years employed by the Metropolitan Transit Authority in New York City, went to work on Monday December 1, 2008 and never came back. Edwin was stabbed to death on his bus that day.

Edwin was working the extra board out of the Flatbush depot. On this day he was operating the B46 route which travels a twelve mile stretch through the Crown Heights Bedford-Stuyvesant and Williamsburg sections of Brooklyn. Each one way trip takes approximately one hour twenty minutes. The bus he operated this day had no cameras.

A male passenger had boarded Edwin’s bus at Malcolm X Boulevard and Gates Avenue in Bedford Stuyvesant. The man ran a Metro Card through the fare box two or three times, each time the card was rejected as being invalid. The man then walked back into the bus and took a seat. Edwin, obeying rules to avoid confrontation, said nothing. The man then came up from his seat and asked for a transfer. Edwin refused saying he had not paid his fare, he wasn’t entitled to a transfer but he could ride the bus to where he was going.

The passenger became enraged and demanded to be let off the bus. Edwin opened the door; the assailant then punched Edwin twice in the head and jumped off the bus. Edwin was about to close the door when the assailant suddenly turned, stepped back on the bus, pulled a knife and stabbed Edwin repeatedly in the chest and torso.

Passengers screamed and the man jumped back off the bus and ran. Two male passengers gave chase but the man got away. Edwin was transported to Woodhull Medical Center and was pronounced dead at 1:11 P.M.

Rewards of $12,000 each from the local police, the MTA and the local union totaling $36,000 were posted for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the killer. As of this writing we are unaware of an arrest.

When something as tragic as this happens one never quite knows what to say. One of his co-workers who knew Edwin well said “Out of the 600 hundred drivers at the Flatbush depot, you couldn’t find one who didn’t like him. He always had a smile on his face. If there was overtime, he was working it. If they needed him he’d never said no”.

How do we make sense of such a horrific senseless crime such as this? Why attack a bus driver? It’s usually not for money. The most common motivation for these attacks on Transit Operators is the driver having the audacity to ask for payment of the posted fare. There are those that treat the bus like their own private transportation. No need to have the proper fare, valid transfer or pass. Who is this driver with the nerve to ask that they – like the overwhelming majority of our riders – pay their fare?

Transit Operators everywhere from the big cities to the small in this country and throughout the world are concerned for their own safety and that of their passengers on a daily basis. Assaults on drivers are a too common occurrence. God knows we’ve had our share of assaults here at Omnitrans. Probably nothing short of having a police officer on Edwin’s bus that fateful would have prevented this tragic event.

Remember, we work early morning and late night hours all by ourselves. The wide open high level public contact makes for a very dangerous work environment. Let’s face it any nut case can stumble to the bus stop and wait till we pull up and pop open the door. Please be careful out there. Keep your eyes and ears open for the danger signs. Read the weirdo ahead and try to expect the unexpected. Though we are not obligated to transport violent people we cannot make anybody do anything. Edwin did what any reasonable person would have done under the circumstances.

Be sure to report any and all confrontations to the company and your Union. Communication and teamwork is key to keeping our worksite as safe and secure as we possibly can.

The Reoffer of Omnitrans Last, Best and Final has passed: 183 Yes to 135 No