Petition to King County Executive Dow Constantine and King County Councilmembers Subject: King County Metro's demoralizing and unjust Customer Complaint system. We, the undersigned Operators, petition our elected County representatives to help fix Metro's demoralizing and unfair customer complaint system. The health and safety of Metro's hardworking, dedicated bus drivers are being stretched to the limits of endurance; Metro's dysfunctional "customer feedback" system adds to the stress of an already stressful and increasingly difficult job. Factors beyond the control of Operators have created an explosion of complaints. These factors include: rising demand for public transit; cuts in service hours; "schedule efficiencies" that save Metro millions of dollars, delay service and overcrowd buses putting more stress on drivers; ever-changing fare structures and policies; cuts in Customer Service, bus-cleaning and mechanical support. In general Operators are being asked to do more with less, placing unrealistic expectations of "customer service" delivery on front line workers. Operators are being turned into frontline scapegoats for a transit system under pressure - at a cost to our health and safety. We call on you to help create a more fair and productive customer feedback system, one that properly trains management and staff to aggressively screen complaints, one that does not penalize operators for circumstances beyond our control, and that cultivates dignity and respect towards drivers - not disrespect and scapegoating as for example: ? Confronting Operators for complaints when following Metro policy; ? Confronting Operators with bogus, poorly-identified and/or misassigned complaints; ? Confronting Operators on complaints that refer to drivers in a derogatory fashion - and discriminatory patterns and practices; ? Failing to expunge from Metro management's review of Operators records after a rolling year; We ask that you embrace the policy of just cause in employee discipline in your employment practices, and direct Metro to immediately bargain in good faith with ATU 587 to improve the complaint system - per the overdue commitment Metro made in the current contract signed with the ATU 587 in 2010. Sincerely, Name (Print) Return to: shopfloor587@gmail.com Signature Labor Donated Email/Phone ID #