Teamsters Local 728, one of the largest labor unions in the U.S., and MV Transportation, the current transportation firm for Panther Shuttle buses, ratified a contract on April 4 to revive benefits lost by shuttle bus drivers during the transportation firm switch in May 2013.
Some of these benefits include paid leave on jury duty and vacation, job security against unjust discipline as well as protection against unsafe buses. This did not include higher wages, according to Teamsters Organizing Director Ben Speight.
The University changed transportation firms from First Transit to MV Transportation in May 2013, and wages for shuttle bus drivers were lowered from $11.50 an hour to $10 an hour. Twenty-five drivers were laid off as a result of Georgia State replacing its previous bus fleet, detailed in an earlier article by The Signal.
In the process of changing firms, Teamsters Local 728 was no longer recognized, according to Speight.
Speight said that after the switch from transportation providers, shuttle drivers decided to reorganize their union with Teamsters Local 728 last summer.
The two groups met in March to negotiate agreements between them and MV Transportation, before ratifying the contract to revive lost benefits.
“They took everything we had worked for financially,” Alan McCray, a shuttle driver, said.
Ben Leake, a philosophy major and member of PSA, was the first to help organize support for shuttle bus drivers at Georgia State after receiving an email feed from Jobs with Justice (JWJ) about shuttle bus drivers’ fight for living wages, pay high enough to maintain a normal standard of living.
“I was interested in building student support at Georgia State around the issue,” Leake said.
In a letter from JWJ written to President Becker, Neil Sardana, an organizer of JWJ, informed the president of the wage issue with the bus drivers and asked him to speak out in favor of the bus drivers.
“MV Transportation is not practicing the core values of Georgia State by decreasing hourly wages and not being respectful of workers’ well being. President Becker, please, it’s time for you to immediately establish a base living wage for all current and future contracted campus workers and intervene to tell MV to pay a living wage for all GSU bus drivers,” Sardana’s message stated.
President Becker said Georgia State’s request for proposal for transportation vendors was based on the need for a more efficient bus fleet that would also provide accommodations for students with disabilities.
Along with this, Becker said the MV Transportation contract is funded through a transportation fee by students and that the university has made efforts to limit student fee increases.
Addressing this response from Becker, Leake said that Becker was creating a false dichotomy between students and workers.
Speight said this was essentially pitting students against workers when they are actually equal and it was similar to saying that workers are not a part of the community.
“There’s a saying that goes, ‘If you don’t have a seat at the table, then you’re on the menu,’ and the workers clearly do not. They too should have a voice at the table,” Leake said.
Becker’s response also said that the University does not have control over wages for contract employees of private companies.
Leake said that PSA’s efforts for the president’s intervention on the issue are because of his influence.
“We’re interested in having President Becker take a stance on the issue because he is the president of the university. Him speaking out on the issue and taking a stance on the issue carries a lot of weight for the way things play out,” Leake said.
McCray is one of the five shuttle drivers who decided to reapply for his position as a shuttle driver at Georgia State.
He said that his reason for reapplying as opposed to relocating was not only because he had accrued certain benefits in his position, but had also established close relationships with faculty, staff and students at Georgia State.
“Why does parting have to be such sweet sorrow when we can continue to grow as a family and move forward?” McCray said.
Currently, other organizations like United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS) along with JWJ and PSA has teamed up to garner support for shuttle bus drivers by encouraging supporters to send emails and leave voice mails for the president, according to Speight.
