Contract Talks Continue

The Union’s Executive Board sits down with the Company again today, Wednesday, September 26, 2012, in contract talks.  The Board met Tuesday to give further consideration to the many ideas and suggestions members have put forward and to plan for this bargaining session.  Then we met briefly with the Company after they arrived late Tuesday afternoon.

Not surprisingly, the Company complained that the Union is demanding too much.  Local 1700 officers are confident that all Local 1700 members are ready to back us up in showing the company that is not the case.  We have a long way to go to achieve the respect and the fairness on the job that Greyhound employees deserve.

Greyhound drivers are part of a very small minority of workers in the United States that are not guaranteed fairness on the job under federal law.  The exemption of over-the-road drivers from provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act allows Greyhound to get away with what is legally prohibited for most other employers: avoiding paying overtime after 40 hours and avoiding paying workers for all time spent on the job.  This astonishingly unfair practice needs to be corrected now.  Local 1700 members are on the front line of battle in this extremely important fight for basic fairness.

Watch for further updates as negotiations progress.