Boston school bus drivers
Solidarity against racism at heart of union fight-back
By Stevan Kirschbaum
Chief Steward, Readville,
Steel Workers Local 8751
Boston
On June 15, over 150 multinational Boston
school bus drivers and monitors, members of Steel Workers Local
8751, and their supporters took to the streets of the
Charlestown section of Boston in a militant show of force. They
marched on the corporate offices of First Student Inc., the
city's bus management company.
At the front of the march was a banner that spanned the
width of the street. It read, "First Student Inc.--Stop union
busting, contract justice now!" Atop a sound truck/mobile stage
donated by Boston Labor's ANSWER, union and com munity leaders
broadcast their message non-stop through chant and song. A
brightly-decorated 14-vehicle motorcade followed the
marchers.
Though the procession snarled traffic as it wound toward the
posh Shraft Center in the Sullivan Square rotary, neighborhood
residents expressed solidarity with the union. Raised fists
were seen and shouts of approval and car and truck horns were
heard throughout the demonstration.
A massive police presence was dispatched to the area, led by
the notorious Capt. Bernard O'Rourke, including many squad cars
and motorcycles. But the posturing didn't deter the
demonstrators, whose only permit was their rock solid
determination.
First Student, city demand
cutbacks and concessions
First Student Inc., a British conglomerate, is the
second-largest school bus management company in the U.S., with
operating profits of over $380 million this year. It won the
Boston management contract by promising the city administration
tens of millions of dollars in cuts.
First Student, in collusion with the City of Boston, came to
the negotiating table demanding huge concessions, including
cuts to the drivers' pay, language demanding second-tier status
for part-timers, intro duction of global positioning systems,
speed-ups and job reclassifications, attacks on seniority and
bid rights, and more.
At a June 10 negotiating session scheduled by First Student
to present the company's final offer, the company issued
another concession-filled ultimatum. Rank-and-file workers who
packed the session said "No way!" and decided that the union's
counter-offer should be presented through the June 15
protest.
As the demonstrators approached the Shraft Center's
entrance, union workers from the firehouse next door came out
to holler their solidarity. The bus drivers and monitors are
part of a citywide union coalition that includes the
firefighters, teachers, school custodians and others.
Marchers jammed the entrance and set up their mobile stage
for a solidarity rally. The Shraft Center houses many corporate
offices. Building security goons who tried to intimidate,
photograph and attack the workers were pushed back.
Rich Rodgers of the 90,000-strong Greater Boston Labor
Council pledged the council's support until the union wins
justice. He declared, "This is what real unionism looks like.
You have taken your struggle to the streets and we are with
you." Joe Carlson of the Steel Workers International also
pledged 100-percent support.
Moe Penn, a leader of Service Employ ees Local 888, led the
gathering in singing, "Power, power, power! Unions have the
power! Power by the hour! Working people power!"
Brother Lo of the Greater Roxbury Work ers Association, a
leader in the fight for affirmative action in the building
trades, brought greetings from his organization.
Local 8751 steward Bob Traynham lead the crowd in chanting,
"First Student, we say no! Union busting has got to go!" to
make sure they got the point.
Steve Gillis, president of the bus drivers and monitors
local, said: "This is the fourth time in the span of one week
that you have answered the call of your union and taken to the
streets for contract justice. You have shown the company and
their city backers that you will fight until the battle is
won."
He urged everyone to join the upcoming July 25 protest at
the Democratic National Convention.
At one point First Student Regional Vice-President Ted
Leclerc slunk out to pick up the union's no-concession
counter-proposal.
Attacks on desegregation
Another important theme of the march was the need to fight
the new wave of attacks on school desegregation.
On the 30th anniversary of Boston's desegregation case, the
forces of racism have reared their ugly heads again. Rally ing
behind the false slogan of a "return to neighborhood schools,"
theircampaign is a thinly-veiled plan to deny Boston's
communities of color the right to equal education.
Led by Mayor Thomas Menino, City Council President Michael
Flaherty and an assemblage of "anti-busing" segregationists,
they are following in the footsteps of notorious bigots Louis
Day Hicks, Pixie Paladino, Jim Kelly, and Bill Bulger. Their
campaign is part of a national effort to turn back the gains of
the historic civil-rights movement.
The White House and the State House are united. They want to
abolish desegregation, affirmative action, bilingual education
and more.
Local 8751 has stood with the community in its battle
against racism since its founding nearly three decades ago.
Many of the signs and chants June 15 reflected the long history
of struggle on these issues.
It's worth noting that this demonstration by a 90-percent
African American, Haitian and Cape Verdean union local received
strong solidarity in Charlestown, a predominately white
working-class neighborhood which had historically been linked
to the racist anti-busing forces.
Charlestown has been the victim of cruel and widespread
gentrification. It is clear that protests such as this union/
community rally strike blows against racism and show the way
toward a united fight against the common enemy--capitalism.
After two hours the workers took to the streets again and
marched back to the Charlestown bus yard. Brother Lo's closing
chant summed up the day: "Eighty-seven fifty-one, we won't stop
till the battle's won!"
Reprinted from the July 1, 2004, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyrighted
under a Creative
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