As students, we have a responsibility to protect the interests of the campus workers that serve us. Each day, AU's shuttle bus drivers transport thousands of us where we need to go. We depend upon them. It is only decent to return the favor and support them when they ask for our support. As tuition payers, and therefore constituents, of AU, we have the power to call upon the administration to change university policy, and that includes the way it treats its shuttle bus drivers.
About three years ago, the management of Public Safety and Transportation Services changed. The shuttle bus drivers, many of whom have been working here for over a decade, felt that the new management abused them verbally and constantly threatened their employment status, even in cases of minor infractions. The drivers tried to deal with the issue through informal means, including sending a letter to higher management, but it became increasingly clear that the only way to restore on-the-job respect was to organize a labor union. With a union, the drivers would have a formal process through which to file grievances with management and have them rectified.
Approximately 90 percent of the drivers favored unionization at the time the election date was set. The administration, fearing that unionized drivers could act as equal partners in the employer-employee relationship instead of as subordinates, launched a campaign of intimidation and dissuasion. Flyers and memos appeared in the drivers' break room, warning them they could lose benefits if they voted to unionize. As a result of these tactics, the final ballot tally was a close 9-8 in favor of unionization with Teamsters Local 922.
The administration says it has filed the objections and lawsuits so it can "make sure" that a union is what the drivers really want. In other words, its campaign of intimidation and dissuasion before the balloting to "make sure" the drivers would not vote for the union was not effective, so they were left with the sole option of challenging the election after the fact.
The university's objections to the October 2006 balloting process were rejected by the National Labor Relations Board, the federal body that observes unionization elections and certifies unions as the legal representatives of workers in collective bargaining negotiations. The administration then appealed the process further to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.
One of the more outrageous things about this case is that the administration is using our own tuition money to pay the thousands of dollars in lawyers' fees to object to the NLRB ruling and appeal the case. It sickens me to think that a portion of the money that I am shelling out to prepare me for a career in social justice advocacy is actually working against a basic social justice goal.
What's more disheartening is the justification for spending the money - that paying lawyers to appeal the case will save money in the end because it will keeping the drivers' wages low. That justification rings hollow; what caused the drivers to organize was working conditions, not wages. One driver told me that he could find a higher wage elsewhere, but he likes working with AU students because they are not pompous like, say, students at Georgetown University.The shuttle bus drivers are there for us every day, whether it's to get us to class on time or to get us home after a late night on the town. This semester, it's our turn to be there for them. As a member of AU Solidarity, I ask you to please call upon the administration to halt all obstructionist lawsuits, follow the law, and negotiate with the union in good faith. It's the right thing to do.
The AU administration disregarding the sacred right to organize a labor union: what a travesty.
Travis McArthur is a senior in the School of International Service and an AU politics columnist for The Eagle.
