Headline News
We All Deserve Respect
I am a driver with Local 633 out of Manchester, N.H. We have been Teamsters in Salem since 1998. It has not been easy to get where we are today, but it was well worth the wait. I am a steward who to this day still learns new things as I go along.
We had three towns out of my terminal with approximately 90 drivers. In the 2011-2012 school year, First Student lost the contracts to Student Transportation of America (STA) in two of the towns who share a common School Administration Unit office and contract. A lot happened along with these changes, but due to our support of each other as union drivers, most drivers stayed with the towns that they had driven for over the years. They stayed strong and moved to STA, along with a new union contract.
Once a year, Local 633 plans an outing for a summer camp that is for special needs adults. Several Teamsters from the local get involved by helping to make the day a fun day for all. School bus drivers volunteer their time to drive the donated buses to the seacoast for a day at the beach. This year, STA got involved with supplying wheelchair buses for the trip, along with First Student.
After unloading we were asked to gather together as a group so they could take our pictures. As we were asked to stand in front of the First Student bus, one of the STA drivers made a comment that she didn't think that she could stand in front of a First Student bus. Our organizer told her that we are all drivers here. Just because we work for different companies should not matter. I agree.
Across the country every single person who drives children to school should be respected.
As drivers, monitors, mechanics and dispatchers for the largest companies and even the smallest companies, we should all think the same—that we are special people. We as drivers have a huge responsibility in our work. We have many requirements from both the federal and state level. We should all support each other, knowing how demanding our jobs are each and every day.
Next time you talk to another employee who works for companies such as First Student or STA, tell them how important they are. Tell them that they deserve respect and decent wages no matter who the boss is. If the companies didn’t have us, they wouldn't have a business.