Woo-hoo! Another Teamsters organizing victory in WA

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Please give a warm welcome to the more than 370 First Student school bus drivers in Seattle who have joined Teamsters Local 174 in Tukwila, Wash. The drivers, who work at four First Student yards, join the 17 school bus mechanics who are already members of the local. 

“The drivers looked to the mechanics and all the workers who are represented by Local 174 in the area, and saw the benefits that they have, and wanted the same,” said Abe Taylor, an organizer with Local 174.

Charlie Martineau has worked at First Student for three years as a driver and stressed how determined he and his co-workers were to form their union.

“We worked hard and we knew this day would come,” Martineau said. “We just want to have a chance to bargain our working conditions, safety, benefits and more.”

“Our local has been engaged in a five-year campaign to bring economic and social justice to the group of nearly 400 bus drivers at First Student,” said Rick Hicks, Local 174 secretary-treasurer and Joint Council 28 president. “All the credit should really go to the rank-and-file organizing committee who never faltered in their belief in the Teamsters Union and the labor movement itself.”