Vol. 77/No. 38      October 28, 2013

Drivers ended the walkout the following day after the company agreed to meet with the union. Steelworkers District 4 officials had said the walkout was illegal and told the drivers to go back to work.

“They treat us like dogs. We want respect,” bus driver Cecil Payne told the Militant at the Dorchester yard Oct. 9.

A union flyer distributed at an Oct. 10 rally had 15 demands, including that the company withdraw threats of discipline against drivers who walked out, end new work rules imposed without consulting the union, provide adequate restrooms, and end the use of GPS devices to track them during the workday.

Two union officials were suspended by Veolia Oct. 9 for their role in the walkout — Grievance Committee Chairman Steve Kirschbaum and Local Vice President Steve Gillis.

“We are 100 percent behind those guys. We are one!” chief union steward Jean-Claude Toussaint said at the rally of 150 drivers at the Readville bus yard.

Mayor Thomas Menino called the drivers “selfish people who only want to cause disruption in our city.” The day after the walkout he charged it “was led by a rogue element of the union and we’re going to deal with that rogue element.”

Public reaction was mixed. Newspapers and TV media were rife with comments from parents upset there was no advance notice.

Payne and fellow driver David Dawkins said they heard a different point of view from parents. “You did the right thing,” one parent told Payne. “They don’t miss you until you go on strike,” another told Dawkins.

The two Democratic Party candidates in the Boston mayoral race condemned the strikers. State Rep. Martin Walsh said in a statement that the drivers need to “understand that future illegal actions like this will be dealt with swiftly with real and permanent repercussions for those taking part.” Walsh is a former official with Laborers Local 223 and headed the Building and Construction Trades Council of the Metropolitan District.

“If the school bus drivers will not go back to work immediately then the city and the school department needs to take every action at their disposal to get replacement drivers in place as soon as possible,” said City Councilor and mayoral candidate John Connolly.

Socialist Workers Party candidate for mayor Kevin Dwire backed the workers. “They are afraid that other workers will look at what you did and do the same thing,” Dwire told drivers at the Dorchester yard Oct. 9.

— Ted Leonard

Atlanta school bus workers demand pay for training days

“We have a union,” driver Quentin Hutchins, 41, told the board. “We deserve respect, a real voice, and accurate pay.”

The workers, represented by American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 1644, say they have not received a raise in five years.

Bus driver Jeremy Smith said workers were being shorted hours and pointed to the board’s failure to address safety concerns. The door on his bus fell off its hinges after there was no response to his repeated reports about the door’s deteriorating condition.

Erika Tetens said problems with time clocks result in erroneous charges for unexcused absences and docked pay.

“We show up every day to make sure our precious cargo gets to school safely, but we have faulty cameras that never get fixed, problems with radios and not enough bus monitors,” said driver Stephanie McDade.

Atlanta Public School administrators say workers will get five days off during the year to make up for the early start and that other issues are an issue between labor and management.

—Janice Lynn