As the union president for MITS employees and a driver of the MITS Plus buses, Erbie Bertram works to ensure that both the union and MITS provide great public transportation to the Muncie community.
Erbie describes his job as the union president to be, “like an attorney representing a client.” Specifically, in this job, Erbie works hard to be a great mediator between the union and the company. Mostly this comes in the form of filing grievances, researching problems occurring for workers around the country, and arbitrating situations with management.
A lot of hard work goes into being a union president, and sometimes the job doesn’t involve extremely pleasant things. However, for Erbie, there is one big plus. “I enjoy making things better not only for the people, but for the company also,” said Erbie. Because of his twenty-one years of experience as a supervisor at GM and his current position as a worker, he understands the importance of both the company and the workers.
Erbie has gone through many leadership training seminars where, among other things, he learned how to effectively communicate with others. Erbie believes that having good communication within a business leads to better relations between employer and employee, which leads to an efficient company. “When [the employees] find out that you are a real person, and you stand for something, and you stand by what you tell them, they are more willing to cooperate,” said Erbie.
When Erbie took the job of union president, he emphasized the importance of not abusing power, and he still follows that principle today. “What I strive to do is not to look for a lot of power, but to look for the middle of the road,” said Erbie. “The ideal situation is to the have the union and the company agree to the point where they aren’t abusing their rights.” This way, the business as a whole can function properly and provide great service to its customers.
Erbie Bertram is also very fond of his job as a para transit operator. Part of the reason he loves it is because of the connection he makes with the customers. “I like being able to make things better for people who can’t make things better for themselves,” said Erbie. “Sometimes I go above and beyond what the job calls for because I want to help.”
To Erbie, going above and beyond means doing little things to help each customer feel comfortable and safe. One of these “little things” is simply talking with the passenger. Because of the one-on-one time spent with his passengers, he knows exactly how to care for each individual person.
As the union president and a driver for the para transit transportation team, Erbie’s biggest goal is simply to help people get out into the community, and how he accomplishes that is by doing his part to make MITS as efficient as possible. “I don’t have a hidden agenda, I’m just here to make this company better,” said Erbie. “It’s great for the community, it’s great for the people who work here, and it’s great for Muncie.”