School Bus Workers in Missour and Tennessee Join Teamsters Union

First Student school bus drivers and monitors in Missouri and Tennessee have overwhelmingly decided to join the Teamsters Union. The workers voted 54-21 in favor of joining the Teamsters in Grandview, Missouri and 25-2 in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The workers cited similar reasons for uniting, including a need for a fair pay scale, affordable medical benefits, respect and improved safety. The bargaining units total 119 workers.

“Today was a great day,” said Angela Harrill, a driver with First Student in Oak Ridge, and now a member of Teamsters Local 519 in Knoxville. “I’m very proud that we passed this vote.”

“These workers stood united and did a great job,” said Wes Trotterchaud, President of Local 519.

In Grandview, Missouri, First Student monitor Angel Clayton felt confident throughout the organizing process that she and her coworkers would gain Teamster representation.

“I expected us to vote to join the Teamsters,” Clayton said. “My hope now is for a better future, so we can get some of the things that we need around here.” Clayton said she and her coworkers struggle to make ends meet, with wages not high enough to cover the cost of health insurance.

“There’s favoritism here, a need for better wages and for the workers to have their concerns addressed,” said Billy Thompson, President of Local 838 in Kansas City, Missouri, the local for the Grandview First Student workers.

This 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 15,700 workers have become Teamsters.

Founded in 1903, the Teamsters Union represents more than 1.4 million hardworking men and women in the United States and Canada.