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Fla. School Bus Workers Finally Talk Contract
It took way longer than expected, but Santa Rosa County, Fla. school bus workers finally sat down to negotiate a first contract with Durham School Services yesterday for the first time.
The drivers and monitors, represented by Local 991 in Mobile, Ala., spent more than three years fighting to get to this place. But victory came to fruition after the U.S. Court of Appeals denied Durham’s appeal to contest the certification of the workers’ 2013 election for representation by the Teamsters.
There are approximately 200 school bus workers in the unit that voted overwhelmingly to join Local 991 in February 2013. Durham is the second-largest school bus company in the United States and a subsidiary of National Express Group PLC, a United Kingdom-based multinational transportation company.
The Teamsters recently held two meetings in the county inviting any and all of the drivers and monitors they will represent to bring any proposals they would like to see discussed during bargaining. That bargaining continues today and tomorrow.
The Teamsters Drive Up Standards campaign to improve safety, service and work standards in the private school bus and transit industry began in 2006. Since then, more than 36,500 North American school bus and transit workers have become Teamsters.