Bus drivers and attendants for First Student Inc., a national transportation company with offices in Baltimore, voted 145-96 last week to join the International Brotherhood of Teamsters union in hopes of boosting their wages and improving their health benefits.
“We are excited to move to the next step: negotiating a contract that will give us a strong voice on the job,” said Patti Thomas, a First Student bus driver.
“Our job is to bring the employees and the company together,” said Sean Cedinio, secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Local 570.
The drivers and attendants work at bus yards in Baltimore at Philadelphia Road and JohAvenue.
First Student officials in Baltimore said the company respects the workers? vote.
“They elected to have the Teamsters represent them,” said Tony Bennett, contract manager for the Baltimore operations of First Student.
“We respect that. I?ve got great employees who are very conscientious and very safe, ” Bennett said.
First Student is a subsidiary of First Group, a London-based company with U.S. corporate offices ? First Group America ? in Cincinnati.
First Student has 15,000 school buses and 19,000 drivers serving school districts nationwide, including 97 routes in Baltimore.
The Teamsters have joined the Service Employees International Union and the Transportation and General Workers union in a nationwide campaign to organize private school bus drivers.
In Baltimore, the workers want a set pay scale. Many longtime bus drivers are earning about $11.50 an hour, while some new drivers are getting $14.50 an hour, Teamsters officials said.
Attendants get about $8 per hour.
Health care benefits are costing some employees $100 per week, Cedinio said.
Union-bound
» First Student has about 270 bus drivers and attendants in Baltimore.
» The U.S. Department of Labor must certify the vote before employees can join the union.
» The Teamsters expect to have contract as soon as possible but within a year.
