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TriMet buses on the downtown Portland transit mall.

(Jamie Francis/The Oregonian.)

In the past 18 months, TriMet bus drivers have been on the receiving end of some brutal attacks, including three stabbings and a vicious beating at a North Portland stop last fall.

On that, the driver’s union and management at Oregon’s largest transit agency agree.

But Amalgamated Transit Union 757, tangled up in an ugly showdown with management over health benefits, is claiming that TriMet managers are intentionally downplaying the number of times riders assault bus and train operators.

TriMet officials have maintained that serious assaults on its drivers -- while a heinous reality of the job -- are rare. ATU, however, is circulating a list of 130 reported incidents dating to May 2010 that it says have been intentionally hidden from the public.

Operations managers at the transit agency say most of the cases – dozens of incidents of riders spitting on drivers, for example – don’t meet the legal definition of assault and many reports were later found to be unsubstantiated.

“The ATU leadership’s accusations are inaccurate and the document (supplied by the union) contains just initial information inputted by a controller or dispatcher,” said Roberta Altstadt, a TriMet spokeswoman, in an email.

Fair or not, the ATU’s “list of invisible assaults,” which is it says it plans to make public, is demonstrative of how the union is taking its fight to keep its generous health-care benefits to the people. The public, said Bruce Hansen, ATU 757 president, needs to know about the on-the-job hazards that operators face every day.

“There is a reason that we need the (health care) benefits that we have fought for,” Hansen said. “Failing to record theses assaults goes to show how TriMet tries to deceive the public, whether its with operator assaults or wages.”

Of course, not all of the “reported assaults” on documents shared with The Oregonian involve weapons or flying fists. In fact, the average person would probably dismiss many of them – thrown cups of coffee, spitting and a snowball thrown through an open driver’s window – as small potatoes.

<a href="http://polldaddy.com/poll/7866985/">Do you thinking spitting at bus driver should be considered assault?</a>

But ATU claims bus drivers consider them attacks that make it hard for them to safely ferry passengers in the Portland metro area, while destroying morale on the job.

What's more, Hansen said, TriMet needs to start taking spit attacks more seriously, especially since some diseases can be transmitted by saliva if it gets in a driver's eye or mouth.

Under Oregon law, spitting on a law enforcement or corrections officer is classified as assault. But the statute doesn't apply to other public employees.

Hansen said other incidents on the list clearly cross a line that TriMet isn’t willing to acknowledge. In one case, a driver reported that she asked a man who was vomiting at the back of a bus to step off. A woman traveling with the man reportedly responded by shoving the driver and throwing paper towels drenched with vomit at her.

“That one just disgusted me when I saw it,” Hansen said.

Altstadt said the agency takes reports of menacing or physical attacks against its drivers seriously. But TriMet, she said, doesn’t determine definitions of crimes. Police analysts, guided by the FBI’s Uniformed Crime Reporting, define many of the initial calls on the list don't meet the definition of assault -- even if they're found to be true.

“Spitting – even in the face – is generally categorized as harassment but may be categorized as an assault by the PPB crime records specialist depending on the full details of the incident,” she said.

In countless cases, Altstadt said, harassment, assaults and concerns about weapons on the transit system turn out to be baseless.

As an example, Altstadt recalled a recent report from a train operator who said a rider spotted an elderly woman in a trailing car who apparently had a “shotgun.” In the end, it turned out to be a cane.

“Our staff looks into each security related incident -- again, crime or not -- to see how security might be improved,” Altstadt said. “We are also transparent about reported crimes on our system.”

On the long list of incidents being circulated by the ATU to the media, the most common type is passengers spitting at drivers. (Not surprisingly, most reported confrontations result from bus drivers simply asking free-loaders to pay their fare.)

Whether or not you believe the next contract with TriMet union workers should maintain the most generous public-employee health benefits in Oregon, the ATU list serves as a reminder that your bus driver deserves a big "thank you" during the evening commute.

Of course, you might want to think twice about trying to hug him or her. One of the reported assaults was an unwanted kiss.

Here’s the complete list of reported incidents -- which TriMet says are largely unverified initial calls -- broken down by type from May 2010 to the end of 2013:

Spitting: 65 reported.

Punch, hit, slap, shove, grab: 48.

Assault with fluid (coffee, soda, water, beer): 8.

Finger or fingernail poke: 4.

Stabbing: 3.

Assault with bicycle: 2.

Assault with wallet or purse: 2.

Snow ball: 1.

Vomit assault: 1.

Flying rock: 1.

Hit by car: 1.

Stick: 1.

Trash can: 1.

Brushed arm: 1.

Assault by bus door: 1.

Coins: 1.

“Patted on head by rider”: 1.

-- Joseph Rose