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Bus Monitors at First Student Westmont Ratify Contract with the Teamsters
(WESTMONT, Ill.) – School bus monitors working at First Student in Westmont, Ill. voted unanimously to ratify their first contract with Teamsters Local 777. The monitors voted overwhelmingly to join the Teamsters in April of this year.
“Congratulations to our negotiating committee, who worked hard over the last few months to get the improvements secured in this agreement,” Local 777 President Jim Glimco said. “We were able to get wage parity with the other First Student yards in the area by using the leverage that we have built up in this industry over time.”
The wage increases, which reach 25 percent over the lifetime of the agreement, are retroactive from the beginning of the year. In addition to the pay bump, some of the other benefit that the monitors are getting include 401(k) matching, vision benefits, a life insurance policy and paid funeral leave.
Fareeda Lush is a school bus monitor who just became a shop steward at the Westmont yard.
“Receiving the retro pay is great because it’s just in time for the holidays,” Lush said. “I’m so glad that my coworkers and I came together to form our union with the Teamsters.”
Founded in 1903, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents 1.4 million hardworking men and women throughout the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. Visit www.teamster.org for more information. Follow us on Twitter @Teamsters and “like” us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/teamsters.