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RWDSU bus drivers strike in New Jersey

(RWDSU)

NEWS FROM RWDSU

Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union /UFCW

30 E. 29^th Street, New York, NY 10016

For Immediate Release                                  Contacts:  Zita Allen:  212-684-5300

August 29, 2006                                                                                  917-309-2210

                                                        Local 108 Pres. Charles Hall, Jr.:  973-762-7224

RWDSU Local 108 New Jersey Bus Drivers to Strike Academy #22    Hillside/Hoboken/Secaucus, Friday, September 1

Hoboken, NJ – Charles Hall Jr. President of Local 108 of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union/ UFCW announced a strike by the 100 bus drivers at Academy Bus Tours, Inc. today at a press conference at the Academy Bus Tours Hoboken Terminal.  The strike was initially scheduled for Wednesday, August 30 but is now scheduled for Friday, September 1.

            The drivers service public routes in Bergen and Hudson Counties in New Jersey under contract with New Jersey Transit. The union also has two collective bargaining agreements expiring soon for the Middlesex County routes and those covering the Rutgers University Campus.

            Contract talks between RWDSU Local 108 and Academy began on June 7 but broke down. The company rejected a union proposal that workers be paid time-and-a-half for overtime worked the sixth and/or seventh day of a five-day workweek. Academy drivers typically work 50 and 60 hours during a five-day work week. New Jersey Transit and other bus companies in the tri-state area pay their workers time-and-a-half for overtime. Academy is one of the largest privately owned transportation companies in the United States. 

            “Our members are dedicated bus drivers who take pride in their work and want to provide the riding public the best service possible. They’ve been forced into this situation  by a greedy employer who refuses to give them sick time, routinely forces them to work six and/or seven days in a row, and refuses to pay them properly. The combination is one that puts people before profits and endangers public safety,” said Hall. 

            Hall added that the day before the strike was scheduled to begin he reached out to management and, in an effort to resolve the matter with as little inconvenience to the passengers as possible, urged them to reconsider their refusal of the union’s offer.

            “We’re postponing the strike to give management an opportunity to come to their senses. We don’t want to inconvenience our passengers but we hope they will understand that these workers who serve them every day deserve dignity and respect on the job, and to be paid a fair wage for all the hours of overtime they work. This is not an unreasonable demand,” Hall added. 

           In an effort to negotiate a fair contract, the union has in the past involved a state mediator.  In addition to equitable pay for mandatory overtime and sick days, the union is also demanding the drivers’ wages meet the industry standard.

            Hall said if management refuses to negotiate the strike will begin Friday, September 1 at 12:01 a.m.