School bus drivers and attendants with Durham School Services in Maryland and New York continue to battle with the company over safety concerns, surveillance and unpaid wages.
Workers in Maryland who transport students attending Baltimore City public schools joined with Local 570 of ITF affiliate the Teamsters and other community leaders at a rally on 23 May to demand action on safety concerns over the transportation of schoolchildren. They spoke about mould on buses, fuel leaks, air brake faults and a recent bus fire.
Durham drivers and attendants in Maryland are also pitted against the company on other fronts, with over 85 signing onto a class-action lawsuit over unpaid wages and the filing of a second unfair labour practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) over the company’s use of surveillance.
Meanwhile, over 165 school bus workers in Hudson Valley, New York who have been fighting for months for a fair contract from Durham, held a one-day strike on 25 April and a two-day strike on 9-10 May. Despite the involvement of a federal mediator, the company has made no changes in its offer and its chief negotiator has not visited the Hudson Valley since mid-March. Teamsters Local 445 has filed a number of unfair labour practice charges with the NLRB over claims it has broken federal labour law.
ITF inland transport secretary Mac Urata commented: “This continuing battle is over efforts to get Durham to provide safe transport for school kids and respect for the bus drivers and attendants. These are basic demands and Durham should behave honorably by meeting them. We will not let it off the hook.”
Durham is the second-largest school bus company in the United States and a subsidiary of UK-based National Express Group PLC.
