Building a Better Extraboard

Mon, 12/26/2011 - 4:06pm

Greyhound has agreed to discuss ways to make Extraboard drivers’ lives more bearable. The union and management spent a lot of time during the 2010 contract negotiations trying to reach agreement on improvements for our most stressed members. Several terrific advances have been well received by Extraboard drivers, but we always knew that much more remained to be done.

Local 1700 President Bruce Hamilton said the company is willing to consider union proposals that have never been tried before. “We’re thinking big of ways to improve Extraboard drivers’ lives and enhance their opportunities for making money,” he said.

Extraboard drivers have proposed additional ideas at union meetings. Local 1700 and Greyhound will continue to discuss these proposals, try to arrange test runs, and see if we can make any of them work.

Possible experiments include:

• assign work earlier

• make round-trip assignments

• operate day and night boards in some locations

• bid positions with a regular report time on specific days at drivers’ home terminal

• “instant supplement” positions at away-from-home locations

• let drivers rotate on more than one “home” board