(WASHINGTON) – School bus drivers, monitors and mechanics with First Student in Merrimac, Mass. have voted to join Teamsters Local 42 in Lynn, adding 78 more workers to a growing list of school bus workers nationwide who are choosing Teamster representation.

“I think becoming Teamsters will be beneficial to us all,” said Sue Poor, a 9-year First Student driver. “The wage freeze this year got a lot of people upset. We want to see job security and good, affordable health insurance for our families.”

“This is a great group and they worked very hard to become Teamsters,” said Alice T. Riley-King, President of Local 42. “They’ve seen union members get raises, when they’ve gone without. They are looking forward to having a Teamster contract with everything spelled out, so it can’t be taken away again.”

This is the second group of school bus workers to join Local 42 recent weeks. On Friday, April 9, 27 drivers in Peabody voted to become members of Local 42.

“These hardworking professionals serve our communities by transporting our children to and from school. We are honored to represent them and ready to improve their working conditions through negotiating a strong Teamster contract,” said David W. Laughton, Secretary-Treasurer of Teamsters Joint Council 10.

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 26,300 drivers, monitors, aides, mechanics and attendants have become Teamsters.

For more information on the Drive Up Standards campaign, go to: www.schoolbusworkersunited.org

Founded in 1903, the Teamsters Union represents more than 1.4 million hardworking men and women in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico.

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