Grants Pass First Student School Bus Drivers & Monitors Opposed To The Teamsters Union

Grants Pass First Student Drivers Against Representation (or lack there of) by the Teamsters Union



What Will Union Membership Actually Cost Me?

Membership - Initiation Fees & Dues - Existing Employees

   According to the Teamsters, the $250.00 initiation fee will be waived for existing First Student Employees and our monthly dues will be two (2) times our hourly rate if we earn less than $10.00 per hour, and two and one half (2.5) times our hourly rate if we earn more than $10.00 per hour. The current driver hire rate is $9.85 an hour with monitors making $9.55 per hour. Assuming the Teamsters can get you a better annual pay rate than Rowdy has been able to attain for us over the past 5 years, at the very least all drivers will be earning in excess of $10.00 per hour.

   This translates into entry level drivers having to pay $25.00 per month twelve (12) months per year, or $300.00 per year. Something to remember however is your dues come out of your after tax income and if you are single claiming zero (0) dependents; federal & state tax, social security, and other deductions can total 25% of your income, so rather than having to work two and one half (2.5) hours to pay your union dues you actually have to work more like three and a quarter (3.25) making your monthly dues $32.50.

Membership - Initiation Fees & Dues - New Employees

   Again, according to the Teamsters, "New Hires" (those hired after a collective bargaining agreement is reached) will have to pay a $250.00 initiation fee and their monthly dues will will replicate ours at two (2) times their hourly rate if they earn less than $10.00 per hour, and two and one half (2.5) times their hourly rate if they earn more than $10.00 per hour. The current driver hire rate is $9.85 an hour with monitors making $9.55 per hour. Again, assuming the Teamsters can get the new hires a better annual pay rate than Rowdy has been able to attain for new hires over the past 5 years, at the very least all newly hired drivers will be earning in excess of $10.00 per hour.

   Again his translates into entry level drivers having to pay $25.00 per month twelve (12) months per year, or $300.00 per year. Something to remember however is your dues come out of your after tax income and if you are single claiming zero (0) dependents; federal & state tax, social security, and other deductions can total 25% of your income, so rather than having to work two and one half (2.5) hours to pay your union dues you actually have to work more like three and a quarter (3.25) making your monthly dues $32.50.

   In addition to the new hires monthly dues, they have to come up with an additional $41.67 per month which is their $250.00 initiation fee divided over 6 months, which makes their monthly payment to the union $66.67 from their after tax income. Which means they have to earn $88.38 if they are claiming single with zero (0) dependents, or 8.3 hours of their monthly work time to cover their monthly union dues.

Non Monetary Membership Costs

   So you might be asking "What is the problem with these costs? After all our jobs and welfare are going to be protected by the union!"

   For those employees that weren't here even three (3) years ago, you aren't aware of the driver shortage we experienced for many years. Today if you need a day off for a doctors appointment, time off to do something special with your spouse, or time off to tend to a sick parent or child, we normally have a driver to cover your route and your time off request is approved without question.

   Think back to when you were a new hire. You had three weeks of training for which you weren't paid a dime. You had to front the money to pay for your "Commercial Drivers License Learning Permit" you had to pay for an upgrade of your Drivers License to a Commercial License along with Air Brake, School Bus Driver, and Passenger Endorsements, and this money wasn't repaid you until you actually put in 90 days of work.

   New Hires are lucky if they get twenty (20) hours of work per week when they first start, assuming they don't get a bus route right off the bat. This translates to eighty (80) hours per month. Right now at $9.85 per hour their gross income would be $394.00 every paycheck less taxes. Assuming the union gets them $10.00 per hour in the contract, the same driver working the same amount of hours for the same two week period would only be making $355.81 per paycheck less taxes, of usable income as they have to pay out the equivalent of $44.19 of their gross earnings to cover their union dues and initiation fees, not to mention or factor in the cost of their license upgrade.

   This translates into $8.89 per hour for the first six (6) months of work which is just shy of $1.00 less per hour than what new hires are paid today! Given the training, associated costs to get a commercial license, and the fact that most new hires only work twenty (20) per week, how long do you think it will be before we once again have a driver shortage?

   When we don't have enough drivers to cover routes, there are no elective days off, no vacations during the school year, and attendance policies are strictly enforced. If you don't believe us, ask drivers who have been here for more than three (3) years! And don't think the union is going to help you out when you break the attendance policy, a union contract is binding on both parties!

   So if you enjoy an occasional day off, extending holiday weekends for a short personal trip, or taking your vacations during the school year and don't wish to jeopardize your job because of it; we encourage you to review the rest of this web site and join with us in preventing a Teamster foothold within our First Student Branch.

Just Go Away!
Copyright 2010 - 2011 Alan Miller & a Coalition of Grants Pass First Student Bus Drivers & Monitors opposing representation by Teamsters Union Local #962
Use by other First Student Branches wishing to block representation by the Teamsters Union is encouraged and will be granted upon written request.