[Southsider2k12]

http://thenewsdispatch.com/articles/2010/0...46297779792.txt

2 drivers fired after refusing to drive ‘unsafe’ bus

By Matt Field
Staff Writer
Published: Tuesday, May 11, 2010 4:13 AM CDT
MICHIGAN CITY ­— The Michigan City Board of Publics Works and Safety will decide the fate of two bus drivers who were terminated after refusing to drive a city bus they felt was unsafe.

Following a grievance hearing June 7, the board can compel Michigan City Transit to rehire the two drivers, said Robin Barzoni-Tillman, a union representative for the workers.

She said Monday that the two drivers had met with Michigan City Transit management and had turned down an offer to keep their jobs after a five-day suspension.

“After the five-day suspension, we met and we asked for them not to be terminated,” said Barzoni-Tillman, “and the only way they would not be terminated is to give up our rights to a grievance.”

Because the suspension would have stayed on the drivers’ record, the drivers objected to the deal, Barzoni-Tillman said.

The ordeal began April 21 after another transit employee told Brenda Falls, one of the two drivers, that a bus Falls was to drive had an issue with its brakes.

Falls refused to drive the bus, as did Bill McFerson, the second driver who was fired, according to a letter sent by the head of the Central Maintenance department that was given to The News-Dispatch.

Superintendent Charlie Cate sent the letter to the Indiana Occupational Safety and Health Administration after the state regulator asked that he investigate a safety complaint they had received. Cate said various employees who tested the bus found it to be safe.

Transit Director Walter Gipson said Monday the bus was tested for about 1 1/2 hours.

“We knew there were no problems,” he said. “But we was trying to convince the drivers that there was no problems.”

Barzoni-Tillman said the union will present video taken from a bus surveillance system at the grievance hearing.

The Board of Public Works and Safety comprises three members, including Mayor Chuck Oberlie.

[Southsider2k12]

http://thenewsdispatch.com/articles/2010/0...5f515681242.txt

Board votes to reinstate bus drivers

Matt Field/The News-Dispatch Bus driver Bill McFerson smiles next to union representative Robin Barzoni-Tillman on Monday after learning he and driver Brenda Falls will get their jobs back.
By Matt Field
Staff Writer
Published: Tuesday, June 8, 2010 4:13 AM CDT
MICHIGAN CITY — Despite their boss’ argument that they were insubordinate, two bus drivers won their jobs back Monday by persuading the Board of Works a bus they’d been ordered to drive in April did, indeed, have a brake problem.

Robin Barzoni-Tillman, Amalgamated Transit Union Local 517 representative, walked the board, which includes Mayor Chuck Oberlie, through bus-safety procedures before showing video taken from the bus camera, which she argued showed the drivers had legitimate concerns.

Barzoni-Tillman’s message worked. Oberlie made a motion to reinstate Brenda Falls and Bill McFerson more than a month after the two were fired. They will get paid for the time they were off the job, and the incident will be removed from their personnel file.

“We got everything back,” McFerson said. “We just thank God because we know that was Him that done it.”

Barzoni-Tillman prevailed over Michigan City Transit Director Walter Gipson, who tried to counter the union’s arguments by citing the two drivers’ disciplinary background.

In McFerson’s case, that background includes a five-day suspension in 2009 after an accident determined to be his fault, according to information obtained through an open-records request. Gipson mentioned McFerson receiving a five-day suspension in 2009 in his testimony to the board.

Falls has a long disciplinary record, Gipson told the board.

“Ms. Falls was terminated because of her previous record,” he said, “which is sort of lengthy as far as her not obeying rules.”

The records request turned a few cases where Falls was disciplined. In 2008, she received a one-day suspension for switching bus runs without authorization.

“The main thing that we have to keep in mind here is that this is not a Ron Meer Sanitary District type situation,” Gipson said, adding, “They’re trying to spin it as a safety issue, when it’s insubordination.”

In an interview after the hearing, Gipson explained why he referred to the Meer controversy. Meer is the former Sanitary District worker now involved in a whistle-blower complaint against the district.

“Well it’s controversial, the newspaper (wrote about) the discharge of the drivers,” Gipson said. “And I don’t think anyone wanted to make an issue out of it in the paper.”

It was difficult to tell from the video whether there was a brake problem. Both sides used clips that showed various people in the bus talking about the brakes. In one, a driver told transit officials the bus had “long brakes.”

In the interview, Gipson said that simply means more pressure has to be applied to the brakes.

“That was the only thing that was so-called wrong with the vehicle,” he said, “that you have to apply a little bit more pressure.”

But Barzoni-Tillman said after the hearing long brakes mean the brakes are reacting slowly and are a sign of brake trouble. During a pause in the hearing, Barzoni-Tillman acknowledged the video left room for interpretation.

“As you can see, you can spin it any way,” she said.

In the end, however, Oberlie made the motion for the three-member Board of Works to reinstate the drivers.

In an interview after the hearing, the mayor discounted Gipson’s argument that the drivers had a background of disciplinary problems, calling it irrelevant to the safety issue he believes existed.

“It’s kind of like the police department or the fire department. It doesn’t make a difference where the calls come from,” he said.

While the opposing sides mostly stuck to presenting their arguments and avoided direct conversation, the hearing wasn’t without tension. During a break, a man in the audience seemed to threaten Gipson physically, prompting Gipson to say, “That sounds like a threat to me.”

During the interview, Gipson said he was trying to figure out who the man was, saying he would report the incident to the police.

“I’m going to find his name because that’s a concern of mine,” he said.

Barzoni-Tillman said she did not know the man who seemed to threaten Gipson.

[taxthedeer]

I'm glad to see Mr. McFerson and Mrs. Falls take a stand. I mean seriously, Ever hear one of those behemoths come to a stop, you can hear those brakes SHREEEEEEEEEEEH either blocks away or clear across the parking lot.

In the past I've driven by seen one of those on the rack at Apex on more than one occasion.