National Labor Relations Board protects First Amendment rights on the job and at home for local school bus drivers serving students and their families in Killingworth and Haddam
HIGGANUM – The bus service company contracted to Regional School District 17 has admitted it is not above the law when it comes to its employees' use of online social networks. In a settlement with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), Student Transportation of America (STA) will pay restitution to a local employee unlawfully suspended last December. In the March 31 agreement, the company acknowledged it overreached in disciplining a school bus driver for comments posted on his own time on his personal Facebook page.
"This agreement gives me back my good name," said Richard Duryea, the school bus driver suspended by STA's then-director of operations for Connecticut. "After five years driving kids in Killingworth and Haddam safely to and from school, I'm relieved to have my record wiped clean. Bus drivers should not have to go through this kind of punishment, just because we talk about issues at work on Facebook," Duryea said.
At the time the disciplinary action was taken, STA's local bus yard manager claimed Duryea had "harassed" other employees on his personal online social networking page. The NLRB settlement affirms the company's real agenda, which was retaliation against Duryea for discussing the need for his co-workers to unite for a voice on the job.
"The NLRB has struck a blow for workers' rights and for the First Amendment," said CSEA/SEIU Local 2001 counsel Robert J. Krzys. "It's an important settlement that restores some balance and stops the invasion of an individual's right to speak out on issues like labor organizing. An employee's voice is not only protected in the lunchroom, but also on their personal computer when on personal time," said Krzys.
CSEA/SEIU Local 2001 Organizer Robert Randall filed the initial unfair labor practice charge against STA to stop the company's rogue managers from unlawfully intimidating bus drivers. The settlement ensures STA will remove disciplinary records from Duryea's file and provide him back pay, rewrite their policy on employees' private use of social media, and revise other policies hostile to their workers' voice on the job.
STA's actions followed a high profile incident involving a national ambulance services contractor based in Connecticut often referred to as the "Facebook firing" case. In February, that company entered into a settlement with a driver they terminated for comments she posted on her personal social networking page.
CSEA/SEIU Local 2001's nearly 25,000 members are retired and active public sector workers in state, municipal, and local schools' agencies across Connecticut, as well as workers employed by non-profit organizations and private companies contracted to provide public services. Visit www.seiu2001.org online for more information about the Union's efforts to "Drive Up Standards" in the student transportation industry.
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National Labor Relations Board March 31 Settlement Agreement
National Labor Relations Board workplace notice