Reinstate the DeKalb 8! Support Bus Drivers Fired for Organizing!

Across the country teachers, bus drivers, and other school employees have gone on strike for better pay and benefits in a massive groundswell of action. In DeKalb County (located east of Atlanta) in Georgia, 400 bus drivers took part in a sickout, and in response, the school district fired 8 drivers.

These firings represent the first wave of attacks against workers for taking part in grassroots organizing. We need to stand behind these bus drivers and make their fight – our fight.

Reinstate the DeKalb 8!

Dekalb County school bus drivers continue their three-day sick out into Monday morning, April 23rd. Almost 400 drivers called in sick to work Thursday and Friday morning after a series of fruitless negotiations with the Dekalb County school board. Drivers are calling for better pay that rewards experience and keeps up with rising costs of living, a better retirement package, and safer working conditions for drivers and students. DeKalb County school bus drivers are among the lowest paid in the state, facing exorbitant health care and living costs, despite not having received a pay increase since 2010. Meeting after meeting, drivers have brought their concerns to the board and received no acknowledgement of their concerns and no decisive action to respond to them. “We might be bus drivers, but we are highly educated. We see through you,” said an anonymous bus driver who participated in the sick-out.

Management is leading a slander campaign against drivers, alleging that their actions have put students at risk. In a statement made on April 19th Superintendent Dr. Stephen Green alleged that drivers “pu[t] our children in harm’s way” when they didn’t show up to work Thursday and Friday, despite a letter he delivered to parents Wednesday night asking them to make arrangements to bring their children to school. Another driver who wishes to remain anonymous shares: “We care about our students. You have to have a love for children to do this job for so many years.” Drivers have reached into their own pockets when children go to school hungry and provided support for students when they can’t afford school supplies. Management for years has forced both students and bus drivers to ride on unsafe buses that have neither air conditioning nor heating systems, and made drivers take on longer routes because of a persistent driver shortage.

“The Superintendent always says we are the first person the children meet in the morning, and the last person they see from school on their way home.” Drivers point out that improving their work conditions also improves the safety and welfare of the children they transport to and from school. Management cut the transportation budget in half in 2013, leaving students on overcrowded “hot box” buses with no AC during the hot summer months. Parents have taken note too – they want their children’s bus drivers to work in safe and just environments. Concerned parents are circulating a petition in support of the bus driver’s demands.

In response to their mobilization, management has so far fired 8 workers by having school police deliver letters of termination to worker’s homes intended to intimidate workers who have been involved with the sick-out. The letter reads:

“The District has received reliable information that you have personally encouraged and promoted the “sick-out” strike by bus drivers and monitors … As a public employee, it is unlawful for you to encourage, promote, or participate in strike activity.”

With their sickout, the Dekalb County school bus drivers are picking up the torch that was lit by teachers and school bus drivers in West Virginia, and has been carried by education workers striking and and waging sickouts in New Jersey, Puerto Rico, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Arizona, and Wisconsin (so far…). They are also following the successful example of paratransit drivers on Atlanta’s MARTA system, who held a one-day strike on February 14th and threatened another one for April 18, until management caved to their demands at the eleventh hour. Workers across the country are taking direct action to address their needs on and off the job, and their bravery and coordination are paying off.

Earlier this week, drivers at @MARTA Mobility threatened a second one-day strike, and management caved on all of their demands. This is an important lesson for workers elsewhere – strikes work! #RevivingTheStrike #PowerFromBelow

— Atlanta GDC (@atlanta_gdc) April 19, 2018

“We just want to be heard, and we want what we deserve,” says another “sick-out” driver. “What we’re asking for is reasonable. We want respect.” The DeKalb County school bus drivers have brought the national movement of education workers to Georgia. They are the first workers in this movement to face immediate retaliation for their activity. Their sickout was organized entirely by themselves, without the involvement of any union. It is important for everyone who supports education workers to immediately stand behind them and demand their immediate reinstatement.

The Atlanta IWW and GDC are working with the drivers to continue their mobilization. The most important way that you can support currently is to call in to the DeKalb County Board of Education for Tuesday, 4/24 – Thursday, 4/26 to demand the immediate reinstatement of all fired drivers, with no loss in pay or other discipline, and no other retaliation against drivers.

Call-In Campaign:

Please call the Board office at 678-676-1200 between the hours of 8 AM and 4 PM EST, and ask to speak with Dr. R. Stephen Green, the Superintendent. Whether you speak with him or someone else, we suggest the following script:

Hello, my name is ________. I would like to let you know that I support the school bus drivers. I think it is shameful that the immediate reaction in response to the sick- out was to fire drivers, rather than to negotiate with them. The drivers have a right to organize without fear of retaliation, including by withdrawing their labor. I support their efforts to improve their jobs, and demand that the district immediately reinstate all fired drivers, with no pay lost and no other kind of discipline. None of the drivers who participated should be retaliated against. I also demand that the district immediately recognize the drivers committee and begin negotiating with them. Will you agree to rehire the drivers and recognize their committee?

We are also running a fundraiser to help cover the living expenses of the fired workers, and to support their further organizing – please contribute if you are able.

Because an injury to one is an injury to all!