Driving Up Standards in Student Transportation

Gaining a Voice for Connecticut's School Bus Workers

Regional School District 17 School Bus Driver Richard Duryea Faces Retaliation for Comments Posted on his Personal Facebook Page

More than 1,000 school bus workers employed by private contractors across Connecticut have united in CSEA/SEIU Local 2001. We have made great strides in professionalizing the position of school bus employee by raising income standards and creating opportunities for access to affordable healthcare, which increases retention and reduces turn-over.

In 2007, school bus drivers who transport children in New Haven Public Schools reached out to city officials for support in resolving a contract dispute with their employer, First Student, Inc. That fall, they secured a new five-year contract that improved wages and medical coverage for the district's nearly 300 drivers and their families.

In 2008, bus drivers who had worked for series of companies contracted to West Hartford Public Schools voted "Union YES" in order to make their voices heard on the job. They ratified a first contract with First Student a year later that boosted their economic power and firmly established their role in improving safety and reliability.

After Student Transportation of America (STA) took over bus services for New London Public Schools in 2009, they refused to recognize the voice of the district's bus drivers and monitors. After seeking intervention by the National Labor Relations Board and local school officials, our members brought the company to the negotiating table in 2010. When STA finally lived up to its promise to honor past wages, our members agreed to delay a possible strike in the hope that a final settlement could be reached by late October.

In the meantime, Ledyard Public Schools bus drivers employed by STA voted to join our Union and gain a voice for quality, reliable services and the highest standards of safety for the children they serve. And when their employer appealed an administrative law judge's ruling that upheld their election, the workers began mobilizing community support to end what could become a costly dispute.

And when STA continued its pattern of trying to squelch its employees' speech online, our Union stepped in to hold the company accountable under the law. We took action when local managers attempted to control the personal comments their school bus drivers serving the communities in Regional District 17 post on their own social networks.

 Blog entry on STA's "Facebook retaliation" against a Regional District 17 school bus driver

Blog entry on Ledyard school bus drivers' organizing efforts to end dispute with their employer

 Press release on delay of strike by New London school bus workers and progress with STA

Blog entry on New London school bus drivers and monitors informational picket

 "West Hartford School Bus Workers Vote Union YES!"

New Haven Independent 2007 article on the contract win for the district's bus drivers

 New Haven Register article on 2007 school bus drivers successful outreach efforts

 New school bus workers informational leaflet