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Campaign swings into action for sacked school bus driver
25 May 2011
The ITF is backing a campaign to reinstate a school bus driver sacked in Illinois, USA by National Express Group US subsidiary Durham School Services.
Cheryl Orzech, a supporter of the ITF-affiliated International Brotherhood of Teamsters, has recently been dismissed by the company on a flimsy charge of not showing a placard in the bus rear window. She and the Teamsters believe that it is much more likely to be related to her support for the union, and she has filed an unfair labour practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board. Meanwhile her supporters are holding a rally and cook out at her workplace today (Thursday), at which a workers’ delegation will demand her reinstatement. The same demand will be made at negotiations taking place between the company and the Teamsters this week in New Jersey and California. In London, the ITF general secretary has raised the matter with the chief executive of the National Express Group.
David Cockroft told him: “(Cheryl) has been working as a driver for 10 years, and her work record has been good enough for her to have been entrusted with the role of driver trainer and third-party tester for the State of Illinois.
“You will know that this is not the first time your subsidiary company has behaved in this manner. An inescapable suspicion of deliberate anti-union tactics now surrounds it. I would therefore ask you to contact the company, look into this matter yourself, and use your good offices to ensure that justice is done in this case - and that workers’ rights, including the right to join and participate in a trade union, are fully respected.”
The ITF will be informing members of its Network on Urban Transport Multinationals of this case. The network, which was set-up in 2000 to monitor the activities of urban transport multinational companies, brings together more than 220 activists from 97 unions in 51 countries.
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