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



Union Statements From Organization Meeting September 2009

   Our goal with this "Stop the Teamsters" web site is to provide true and accurate information which was either omitted, slanted, misrepresented, or just plain presented to our fellow drivers as a lie or untruth.

   We ourselves don't want be disseminating misinformation, so we welcome the Teamsters to Reply in writing on Teamster Letterhead with an original signature from Local #962's Business Agent with any information they can prove to be untrue, and we will not only retract the content, but will post their specific point corrections for all to view.

   Union Organizer Terry Slagle gave an introductory speech which included some of the following points.

  1. First Student is a multi-national company that has stated they are recession proof.

  2. We (Teamsters International) have found that First Student Inc. has a profit margin of 40% where McDonald's Hamburger Stands operate on a 8.9% profit margin. We (Teamsters International) therefore believe that First Student is raking in the profits and not spreading their wealth.

  3. First Student has continually failed to provide us (Teamsters International) financial and other statistical information we've requested, stating they don't have the specific information we are requesting, though we know without a doubt that they do.

  4. First Student could get us better and cheaper medical coverage if they shopped around.

  5. We (Teamsters International) believe that any work done should be paid at the same rate of pay you get for driving and will do what we can to see you get the same pay rate for driving, meetings, bus shuttles, bus washing, etc.

  6. Dues. Monthly dues will be 2 times your hourly wage if you make less that $10.00 per hour, and 2.5 times your hourly wage if you make over $10.00 per hour. Initiation Fees will be $250.00 for those who start work after a contract is negotiated.

  7. Teamsters stated: "Oregon is a Right to Work State". You don't have to join the Union, but you do have to pay the equivalent of dues and initiation fees to the Union as you are reaping the benefits of our representation wether or not you are a member.

  8. We (Teamsters International) have brought 122 First Student Branches into the union over the past two (2) years. The lowest pay increase we've gotten a branch is 2% and the highest we've gotten to date is 26%.


   Point by Point Rebuttal by Alan Miller, Grants Pass, Oregon - Laidlaw/First Student Bus Driver since October 2003 who attended the meeting, asked direct questions about statements made by the Teamster Organizers, along with other pertinent questions, and received the following answers.

  1. First Student is a multi-national company that has stated they are recession proof.

       I can't accurately comment on this as I didn't see or hear it for myself, though the Teamsters stated this comment was made at a shareholders meeting. Since this is a "For Profit" company that trades stock Internationally, I'm sure the shareholders who have invested their money into the company, like to hear they are making a profit with their investments. I know I would!

  2. We (Teamsters International) have found that First Student Inc. has a profit margin of 40% where McDonald's Hamburger Stands operate on a 8.9% profit margin. We (Teamsters International) therefore believe that First Student is raking in the profits and not spreading their wealth.

       I don't know what First Student Inc.'s profit margin is, I do know that it's only one part of a multi-national corporation that includes rail and bus transportation, maintenance facilities and more. While one area of a corporation may be doing well others may not and those areas must be subsidized. I won't argue Business 101, but while I personally (much like everyone else) would like to be making more money, the bottom line is: "I knew what the pay and benefits were when I took this job!" Plain and simple.

  3. First Student has continually failed to provide us (Teamsters International) financial and other statistical information we've requested, stating they don't have the specific information we are requesting, though we know without a doubt that they do.

       Much like #2 above, I can't prove or disprove what the Teamsters are stating on this point. However, as you will see in the following points, the Teamsters themselves are guilty of the same withholding of information they are accusing First Student Inc. of.

  4. First Student could get us better and cheaper medical coverage if they shopped around.

       While the Teamsters stated that First Student Inc. could have gotten us better medical coverage if they had shopped around, they didn't provide any alternatives themselves to prove it. In fact I stated that I've been in many Unions over the years, the larger Unions including the Ironworkers and Laborers International provided their own insurance that the companies I worked for paid premiums directly to the Union for.

       When I asked if the Teamsters had their own insurance carrier they said "Yes". When I asked "What kind of coverages, premiums, deductibles, and caps does your insurance offer?", the Teamsters replied: "We can't tell you that as you haven't negotiated a contract with First Student Inc. Yet!" I asked: "Do you have the Teamsters Medical Plan?" To which I got the response "Yes!" When I asked what his plan provided and what it cost, his reply was: "I can't tell you that as there are different plans."

       When I queried further stating that "Hey, if I go into Fireman's Fund, Hartford, Allstate, or any other insurance company and ask ‘What do you offer in medical/health insurance?' I am given a list of plans and associated costs!" So again, I ask you. "What kind of coverages, premiums, deductibles, and caps does your insurance offer?" To which I once again got the same response: "We can't tell you that as you haven't negotiated a contract with First Student Inc. Yet!"

       The Medical Plan this Teamster Organizer had should have been the same plan offered to it's members with the only difference being the Dollar Amount of what the company pays on the employee/members behalf, the coverages should be the same, anything different makes the Union Officers affluent to those they represent, not one of the values they preach. There is no good reason for them to withhold this information unless they are hiding something. I believe this is much like Point #3 above, withholding of requested information needed to make an informed decision, that they themselves accuse First Student Inc. of doing.

  5. We (Teamsters International) believe that any work done should be paid at the same rate of pay you get for driving and will do what we can to see you get the same pay rate for driving, meetings, bus shuttles, bus washing, etc.

       The Teamsters stated that they believe that all work performed as an employee should be paid at the same wage, be that work, driving students, shuttling an empty bus, attending safety or training meetings, or simply washing a bus and that they would be "Getting us the same wage for all work done". While that is a nice thought, the Teamsters have represented us before, and we didn't have the same wage back then, but a bigger issue with this statement is: If they can't answer the question about insurance above because we don't have a contract with the company, how can they promise us the same wage when guess what? We don't have a contract with the company!!!

  6. Dues. Monthly dues will be 2 times your hourly wage if you make less that $10.00 per hour, and 2.5 times your hourly wage if you make over $10.00 per hour. Initiation Fees will be $250.00 for those who start work after a contract is negotiated.

       Dues.... I asked the Teamster Representative: OK, here's the deal, I'm a Trip Driver, 95% of the time I'm making $9.85 and hour, 5% of the time when I cover bus routes for sick drivers, I'm making $11.00 an hour. Are my dues going to be 2 times or 2.5 times my hourly wage. The Union Organizer replied: "You will be getting the same pay for all work performed!"

       Again with the Crystal Ball!! Do we have a contract between First Student Inc. and the Teamsters?? Correct amundo, that would be a big resounding NO!! So again, how can they promise what they don't yet know or have?

  7. Teamsters stated: "Oregon is a Right to Work State". You don't have to join the Union, but you do have to pay the equivalent of dues and initiation fees to the Union as you are reaping the benefits of our representation wether or not you are a member.

       The Teamsters stated that "Oregon is a Right to Work State!" That statement is NOT correct! Oregon is NOT a right to work State!!

       Unlike a "Right to work State" where you don't have to join a union to work and can donate the amount of dues and initiation fees to a charity of your choice, things are different here. While you don't have to join a Union to work in Oregon if the company you work for is Union, you do have to pay the equivalent of both the full initiation fee ($250.00) and the portion of monthly dues the Union uses for "contract negotiations and member representation" which is only slightly less that what is paid to the Union by a member. The Union still gets your money and you get nothing!

  8. We (Teamsters International) have brought 122 First Student Branches into the union over the past two (2) years. The lowest pay increase we've gotten a branch is 2% and the highest we've gotten to date is 26%.

       The Teamsters stated that of the 122 First Student Branches they've brought into the Union the monetary gains have ranged from 2% to 26%. I questioned them about this asking: "If one of the 122 got 2% and another of the 122 got 26% what was the average increase in pay for the remaining 120 branches brought into the Union?"

       The Teamsters reply was: "We can't give you that information as not every branch wanted a pay increase, some wanted better insurance, some wanted days off, some wanted pay, etc.".

       To which I queried: "OK, let me rephrase the question. Including pay, insurance, days off, and other benefits gained, what is the average percent of compensation gained for the remaining 120 branches brought into the Teamsters?" The Teamster response was: "Sorry, we don't have that information!" Again I reference point #3 in the Teamsters complaints against First Student Inc. Who is hiding information now, and why?

 

Additional questions I posed at meeting and the Teamsters Responses.

 
Question: Any Union contract negotiated, will be between the Teamsters Union & First Student, Grants Pass. In the past on a very few occasions there have been instances where for one reason or another, a particular School, or the District itself has requested that a driver no longer drive for them. In this instance there is very little the Union can do to keep the driver employed for the same amount of hours they currently have with First Student if at all. My question is: Does the time in Union as a school bus driver transfer over to the ability for the driver to drive straight truck for any jobs (current or future) posted on the job board at the hiring hall?

Answer: Once you are Union that will never happen again. Any school that has a problem with a driver will have to put their complaint and request for driver removal into writing and submit it to the Union and Company for review. Drivers won't be removed from their position on a whim!

Redirected Question: Again, let me rephrase this question so you know what I'm asking. Let's say that I just get tired of driving little kids around and want to start driving truck for a living. What I'm asking is. Is my time and seniority driving school bus as a member of the Teamsters Union transferrable to truck driving, and does it enable me to be placed on the "Hiring Boards" at the Union Hall for truck driving for when truck driving jobs become available through the Hiring Hall?

Answer: " We don't know!" We'll ask and get back to you!

Alan's Comments for this web page: I find it hard to comprehend that the Union doesn't know the hiring and job dispatch requirements of their own local, but yet again they have that Crystal Ball glowing telling us how it's going to work between the School District, First Student Inc. and the Union when it comes to resolving employee discipline problems between the three.

   It appears to me that answers are withheld when the Teamsters should, or do know the answers, but giving the answer would reflect as a negative on their organization campaign. And that they come up with answers that they have no way of possibly knowing as at the time, they are nowhere near the negotiation table, and a contract which they keep deferring to in other answers!

 
Question: Perhaps you should go over with these folks that have never been in a union what the role of a Shop Steward is along with the benefits, duties, and rewards.

Answer: Since you don't have a contract there is no reason for us go over the duties of a Shop Steward!

Alan's Comments for this web page: For those of you that don't know, a Shop Steward (wether elected or appointed) is supposed to be your buffer between company management and yourself. If a personnel problem arises between you and the First Student, the Shop Steward is supposed to be with you during interviews to make sure you are being treated fairly. Additionally, rounding out their job, a Shop Steward is supposed to verify that all provisions of the ratified contract are being fulfilled by both parties to the agreement and report discrepancies to the proper party.

   A Shop Steward doesn't get paid for his/her time to represent you, but doesn't have to pay dues, and they get a nice little title. If you have (elected or appointed) Shop Stewards who wish to be friends with everyone they come in contact with, who avoid any type of conflict like you would avoid the plague, or are just plain incompetent for the position, having a Union represent you limits your ability to rectify wrongs as the current "Open Door Policy" with company management becomes a thing of the past, usually dictated by the Union Contract which is supposed to protect you in the first place.

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.