Colonial Intermediate Unit 20 bus drivers and maintenance workers seeking to unionize

FROM THE EXPRESS TIMES

About 100 Colonial Intermediate Unit 20 bus drivers and maintenance workers are trying to unionize and an election has tentatively been set.

Over the last year new vague polices have been enacted, drivers hours have been cut and workers now must work 30 hours a week instead of 25 to qualify for health coverage, said Matthew Dees, a bus driver on the union organizing committee.

“We want to negotiate some job security, a just cause policy and better working conditions,” Dees said.

The workers have petitioned to the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board to join the Transport Workers Union of America AFL-CIO, said Steve Roberts, an international organizer for the union.

"The parties have informally agreed to a hearing date but we have not received a signed agreement from the employer," said Sean Yeakle, press secretary for the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry. "When we receive it, the election will be formally scheduled."

Roberts said the election is scheduled from 2 to 8 p.m. for Oct. 19 and ballots will be counted at 8 p.m. It is a straight majority vote he said. Roberts is holding an informational session for workers today.

Colonial Intermediate Unit 20 Executive Director Charlene Brennan did not return a phone message seeking comment.

IU-20 provides 13 school districts services and programs for children, many of them with special needs. Intermediate units were created in the state in 1971 to help districts save money and be more efficient.

The bus driver changes began last year with vague new policies, Dees said.

Drivers lost pay for attending a breakfast meeting with a dispatcher after dropping off students for a field trip, and workers found out when they received their paychecks, he said. He filed a complaint with the labor board and workers eventually got the money back.

Driver hours were cut this year due to the economy, which Dees said he understands, but he called the medical benefits changes a “dirty trick.” Workers were first told about the insurance change and then learned of the cut hours.

“At least half of us won’t make an average of 30 hours a week,” Dees said. “We are going to lose medical benefits.”

Drivers don’t receive sick days, personal days or holidays, he said.

He said some drivers got five paid days off over last Christmas depending on tenure. Drivers also received an average raise of 23 cents an hour, but next year will see no increase, he said.

Most of the districts that comprise IU-20 guarantee their drivers six hours of work, which qualifies them for benefits.

The drivers overwhelmingly support the push to unionize, Dees said.

“I think enough drivers have woken up to the fact that they are going to have to get some protections,” Dees said. “No one is looking to get rich by forming a union. We just want some job security.”

Dees said he sought the Transport Workers union because he appreciated their support of civil and women’s rights.

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