The Amalgamated Transit Union has filed an unfair labor practice claim on behalf of Corvallis Transit System drivers on the grounds that a new health insurance plan violates the city's prevailing wage requirements.
ATU Local 757 filed the claim with the National Labor Relations Board, arguing that transit system contractor First Student broke the Corvallis wage ordinance when it unilaterally changed medical plans this fall. Health benefits had been a bone of contention in collective bargaining talks last year.
Under the old plan, Corvallis Transit System drivers and their families had access to health care providers in the Corvallis area. The new plan, offered through the Kaiser Permanente health system, requires the bus drivers to travel to Salem for treatment.
"That is preposterous," Local 757 President Jonathan Hunt said in a statement announcing the unfair labor practice claim. "I would like to see these city officials themselves accept that."
Cincinnati-based First Student provides drivers for Corvallis Transit System buses under a contract with the city. The union contends the new health care plan violates the transit subcontracting provision of the municipal code, which requires "prevailing wages and benefit levels" for Corvallis transit workers.
But Van Criddle, First Student's Eugene-based area general manager, said city officials assured the company that the health plan complies with the ordinance.
"We ran everything by the city of Corvallis over a period of a couple weeks," Criddle said. "They came to the conclusion ... that it did not violate that."
Criddle said First Student changed health plans because the old coverage was too expensive. He added that the company tried to negotiate the issue with the union, but Hunt declined to participate in those discussions.
"We had to move ahead," Criddle said.
