(WASHINGTON) – Bus drivers and monitors with First Student and First Transit in La Crosse, Wisconsin, have voted to join Madison-based Teamsters Local 695 by more than a 2-to-1 margin. The 120 workers joined the Teamsters seeking fair pay, affordable and decent health care and job security.

“We’ve lost so much throughout the years—pay, insurance—it’s time for a change,” said Diane Bendel, a driver. “We can now address our concerns. This is a great victory for us.”

“It’s satisfying and rewarding to see our hard work pay off. We have nowhere to go from here but up,” said Jim Noble, a driver.

The La Crosse workers are among the 268 First Student and First Transit workers who have joined the Teamsters in Wisconsin this year. The First Student workers in La Crosse transport schoolchildren, while the First Transit (Human Services) workers transport adults.

“These individuals are responsible for transporting our children and members of our community. They should be represented in order to have the working conditions and benefits that every worker deserves, and we look forward to negotiating a contract for them,” said Wayne H. Schultz, Secretary-Treasurer of Local 695.

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 26,400 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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