PHILADELPHIA, NY – One year after forming their own union, the bus drivers working for First Student, Inc. in the Indian River School District have reached and approved their first union contract.
Union members and officers are grateful the process concluded with a legally enforceable agreement.
“We worked very hard to get a contract,” said Unit Treasurer Eileen Erwin. “Before we had a contract in place, management could do what they wanted with us. Now that we have a contract, that’s not the case, so I think everyone feels reassured about that. I think that once we formed a union here, people came together a little bit better as well.”
Negotiating a contract for the first time proved a learning experience for everyone involved.
Indian River School District Unit President Jason Harvey, shown here on a district bus, said that having a new contract is like having a “gigantic weight lifted off our shoulders.”
Unit President Jason Harvey said that having to go through the entire process, even when their first tentative agreement was voted down, worked out and helped keep members involved.
“It was a lot more procedural than I first expected, and I learned a lot,” Harvey said. “In the end, it worked out better and there were constant questions from people wanting to know how negotiations were going. There was a lot of eagerness about how things were moving along.”
Erwin said that our union held meetings to keep members informed and involved, and get feedback. When it came time to show solidarity, she noted “there were quite a few people who wore union buttons to support our negotiating team.”
Now, our new union members are grateful to have protections in place that didn’t exist before.
“I think the biggest thing (about having a contract) is that our rights are protected,” Erwin said.
Harvey said our union will continue to focus on improving wages and benefits to help retain good employees.
“To have this contract in place, it feels like a gigantic weight has been lifted off our shoulders, because it finally gives us the ability to fight for these people, to get them what they need and deserve,” he said. “I’m just happy that we now have the groundwork in place to move things forward and to make this a place where people not only want to work, but can keep working.”
Unit Treasurer Eileen Erwin and Unit President Jason Harvey.
