WASHINGTON, D.C. — School bus drivers and monitors with Durham School Services in Grandview, Mo., have voted to join Teamsters Local 838, uniting for respect and better working conditions. There are 93 workers in the bargaining unit.
“I’m very happy that we are Teamsters!” said Sakethia Humphrey, a monitor. “I’ve been with the company for more than five years and I want us to be protected on the job. We do important work transporting children.”
“I supported us becoming Teamsters so we can have the opportunity to negotiate for fair pay and health care and so we can have a voice at work,” said Jeanine Mabon, a driver.
The drivers and monitors were determined to form their union in the face of resistance by the company to their efforts to organize. The company tried to delay the union election until the fall, but the workers fought back before the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and won the right to have their election in June.
The Regional Director for the NLRB ruled on May 14 that “it is appropriate to conduct an election as soon as practical rather than delaying the conduct of the election until the fall after the start of the 2012-2013 school year.”
“We welcome these workers to the Teamsters and we look forward to getting them on the road to better wages, benefits and treatment,” said Billy Thompson, President of Local 838 in Kansas City, Mo.
Durham is a subsidiary of National Express Group, a large multinational corporation based in the United Kingdom.
The victory is the latest in an effort to organize private school bus and transit workers across the country. Drive Up Standards is a national campaign to improve safety, service and work standards in the private school bus and transit industry. Since the campaign began in 2006, more than 34,000 drivers, monitors, aides, attendants and mechanics have become Teamsters.
For more information on the Drive Up Standards campaign, go to www.driveupstandards.org.
