School bus union stops Boston layoffs

At a time when millions are laid off and unemployed throughout the country during the worst economic crisis since the depression of the 1930s, the Boston School Bus Union—Steelworkers Local 8751—has succeeded in round one of a long fight to protect jobs and vital services to the communities the union serves.

Boston School Bus Drivers Union, USW Local 8751.

On Aug. 25 when the union received the annual bus route schedule, it learned that the school bus company First Student and the Boston School Department planned to eliminate 46 jobs by creating unsafe speedup conditions just as the school year is set to begin. The attack came in last-minute information to the union about the planned fall runs provided just prior to the Aug. 27 “fall bid,” where drivers bid on runs for the fall based on seniority.

As soon as the union learned of the attack, which violates the union contract, it swung into action and notified all the drivers. Within a day they produced a bulletin, scheduled and organized an emergency membership meeting for the night before the bid, and met with community leaders to alert the parents and community of the attack on their rights. The union’s Web site carried up-to-the-minute bulletins on the struggle.

The union demanded an immediate high-level negotiating session with the company and the School Department at noon on Aug. 25 at Local 8751 union hall. They also let the School Department and the company know that unless the union contract violations were satisfactorily resolved, there would be no driver participation in the fall bid or transportation at the opening of school.

Five top School Department and company representatives came to the negotiations, including Boston Public Schools CEO Michael Goar, First Student Regional V.P. Robert Timilty, and BPS Director of Transportation Michael Hughes. They found themselves surrounded by 50 militant rank-and-file bus drivers—many of whom faced layoffs due to the sneaky job-cut proposals—who were making placards and preparing materials for the struggle.

The negotiations were intense and lasted several hours. Union militants insisted the session go on until justice was achieved.

In the end, not one driver was laid off. The union won restoration of 22 full-time jobs with full benefits, with other jobs to be added by the October bid. An historic agreement was reached to end outsourcing of athletic and charter work, and an expedited process was put in place to correct unsafe routes that would have required double and triple loads and drivers to be in multiple places at the same time.

While no driver was laid off, there was still a reduction of nine jobs. The union will struggle, once the school year starts, to restore the remaining routes that were cut as a result of overcrowding and speed-up.

School resegregation plan stopped

In June the union in alliance with the Coalition for Equal Quality Education—a broad coalition including the Black Educators Alliance of Massachusetts, Work 4 Quality/Fight 4 Equity, rank-and-file teachers, parent organizations, the Bail Out the People Movement, other activists and Boston’s councilors-of-color Chuck Turner, Charles Yancy and Sam Yoon—successfully stopped a racist rezoning plan which would have further segregated Boston schools and made the oppressed communities pay for the economic crisis.

That plan would also have resulted in the loss of hundreds of jobs. The superintendent announced on Aug. 26 that this plan, which was originally to have been reworked and resubmitted this fall, has been scrapped and would not be resubmitted. However, she announced plans for a study over the next year of how other urban school systems cut transportation costs. The union and community activists are poised for more rounds in this ongoing fight.

The Boston School Bus Union has shown that the answer to the bosses’ attacks and layoffs is militant, united rank-and-file action and solidarity with the community. The union has vowed that the struggle will go on until all jobs are restored and the racist rezoning plan is stopped for good. An injury to one is an injury to all!