Press Releases
Teamster Bus Workers Demand School Board Honor Union Rights
Teamsters Local 696 Members Raise Concerns at Kaw Valley School Board Meeting
Press Contact: Matt McQuaid Phone: (202) 624-6877 Email: mmcquaid@teamster.org
(ST. MARYS, Kan.) – Kansas Central bus workers represented by Teamsters Local 696 hand-delivered a letter to the Kaw Valley Unified School District (KVUSD) school board at their most recent meeting urging them to allow workers to retain their collective bargaining rights. The school bus workers provide transportation for students attending KVUSD.
The letter from the bus workers comes as the school board is weighing a decision on whether to bring student transportation in-house – thus classifying workers as school district staff – or allowing them to remain private sector workers. Under the Kansas Public Employer-Employee Relations Act (PEERA), the school board has the authority to allow workers to keep their collective bargaining rights in the event they are re-classified into the public sector.
“School bus workers play a critical role in the Kaw Valley Unified School District,” said Matt Hall, Secretary-Treasurer of Local 696 in Topeka. “Regardless of how the school board chooses to classify workers, they must honor their collective bargaining rights. We trust that they will make the right decision.”
“As Teamsters, we currently have higher wages, great benefits, and increased safety protocols. Revoking our collective bargaining rights would not only be detrimental to us and our families, but to the entire school district,” said Brandy Rojas, Kansas Central bus driver and member of Local 696. “We hope that the school board will do the right thing and allow us to remain members of our union.”
More than 50 community members, students, faculty, and other workers have shown support for the workers and their fight to retain their collective bargaining rights by sending letters to the KVUSD school board.
Teamsters Local 696 represents workers in a wide variety of industries throughout Northern Kansas, including UPS workers, public employees, school bus drivers, sanitation workers, and more. For more information, go to teamsters696.com.