Two shuttle bus drivers were recently sacked. The company claims that the workers were involved in an accident that went unreported -- interestingly enough, the "accident" took place more than three weeks before the firing took place.
Both workers were active in organizing their union.
An interesting article from emorywheel.com crossed my desk today that I thought folks might be interested in learning about.
The article "Shuttle Service Accused of Violating Labor Laws" is about two transportation services workers employed at First Transit, the company that operates Emory College's shuttles. The workers, Montante Coleman and Felicia Bryant, were sacked for allegedly being in an accident that went unreported. The workers, however, maintain that there was no accident at all. Instead they believe that they were targeted and then fired for their union activism -- and I am prone to agree with the drivers; as you know, this kind of illegal firing stuff takes place everyday of the week.
The Teamsters are in the process of organizing this shop, based in Georgia, and have now filed unfair labor charges with the National Labor Review Board (NLRB). Results of the filing should be known by the second week of January.
Moving forward, there are a few things to look at here:
- The alleged accident occurred more than three weeks before the drivers were sacked.
- The company claims to know about the accident because of surveillance cameras in the vehicles.
- Both workers were active in organizing their union by handing out cards and showing general support for unionization.
An organizer working on this campaign is quoted as saying that these shuttle drivers are saddled with low pay, insufficient breaks during long work days, and no paid sick days or holidays -- all the core reasons workers seek to unionize in the first place.
In a so-called "Right-to-Work" state, organizing is a lot
harder. When we hear about workers in these areas who know the uphill battle facing them when organizing, and then go forward with their campaign anyway ... we look to support these folks even more so.
As of today I have not see any Take Action links provided by the Teamsters, however, if and when one crosses the desk, which it will, I will be certain to update this diary.
As this might be the last post from Union Review on Kos until next week, I wish you all a happy, healthy and safe New Year.
In Solidarity,
-Richard /Union Review