Pennsylvania School Bus Workers Choose Teamsters Union

News provided by

International Brotherhood of Teamsters

Feb 26, 2010, 02:38 ET

First Student Drivers Vote Overwhelmingly to Join Teamsters Local 491

WASHINGTON, Feb. 26 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- School bus drivers with First Student in Carmichaels, Pa., have voted overwhelmingly, 22-4, to join Teamsters Local 491 in Uniontown, Pa. The 28 workers are looking forward to negotiating a Teamster contract that will provide for fairness and a better workplace.

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"This is the only way we can actually get justice. I cried I was so happy because having the Teamsters will mean getting fairness and getting rid of the favoritism," said Susan Samek, a driver who made the initial call to Local 491 to organize.

"The vote count says it all. These workers joined the Teamsters so they can be treated fairly, and gain the wage improvements and other benefits that come with a collective bargaining agreement," said Vito Dragone Jr., Secretary-Treasurer of Local 491.

Teamsters Local 491 has represented school bus workers in southwestern Pennsylvania for the past 20 years. The local represents about 200 school bus drivers, of which 150 work at First Student.

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 25,000 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.

SOURCE International Brotherhood of Teamsters