Reject the Contract! Occupy Buses and Rip Out Meters!

TUSCALOOSA, Ala., Mar. 7 — As we go to press, negotiations continue between bus drivers at the University of Alabama and the subcontracting company First Transit.

Drivers for the “Crimson Ride” student shuttle service organized as Local 1208 of the Amalgamated Transit Union last May and have been without a contract since then.

First Transit is part of FirstGroup PLC, a British subcontracting firm that runs shuttle-bus services at universities across the U.S.

Since last month, Crimson Ride workers have been actively fighting for a decent contract, including wages and benefits comparable to other drivers at similarly-sized schools. Drivers have particularly pointed to the University of Texas, where drivers employed by First Transit make $11.25 an hour, with sick days and health insurance offered.

Currently, the workers are paid $9.50 an hour, and receive no sick time or benefits. First Transit receives $55 an hour per worker from the university to provide bus service.

Members of the UA chapter of Students for a Democratic Society and the Network to Fight for Economic Justice assisted the workers in building support for their fight for a decent contract. However, on March 1, after nearly a month of useless negotiations, Crimson Ride workers began their strike.

The workers were only out on the picket lines for a few hours before First Transit agreed to come back to the negotiating table.

However, what First Transit brought with them was still an insult. Originally, the bosses only offered a single 17-cent raise. Now, workers tell WPA that a slightly higher number spread over the life of the contract is being offered, while at the same time the bosses are threatening a lockout and the use of scab drivers if they do not accept the deal.

There is little doubt that the threat of a lockout and use of scabs will scare the ATU officials into giving in and taking First Transit’s proposal. Business unions, which reject the use of organized workers’ action as anything more than a pressure tactic, tend to leave the field and abandon the workers when bosses and managers decide to play hardball.

For their part, the university administration appears ready to assist First Transit in their unionbusting by implementing a “limited bus schedule” through the coming week.

While it is understandable that most of the Crimson Ride workers may be willing to accept any contract over none at all, the fact is that the one-day strike showed the kind of power that our brothers and sisters have.

If a few hours of picketing can force First Transit back to the table, imagine what can be won as a result of a real militant strike.

Having teams of drivers occupy the buses the moment the contract is voted down, for the purposes of running them on schedule but with the meters disabled, would not only allow workers to build even more solidarity with student and workers who use the Crimson Ride, it would also give the workers the most powerful bargaining chip imaginable: direct control over their means of service.

Regardless of what happens, including if our brothers and sisters at Crimson Ride do approve a new contract with lousy provisions, the one-day strike our fellow workers held is an example to build on for the future.

Sean Martin and Josh Pisce also contributed to this article.