“We carry the next generation to school every day and we do it well. Now, as Teamsters, we will have the protections that we need so we can continue to do our jobs well. I hope all school bus workers with First Student learn from our experience.”

When the opportunity came to organize our bus yard, I was eager to become involved. I had seen these people struggle. I knew this was our opportunity to stand together and make a difference.

I tell everyone I can about the difference that forming a union has made. We negotiated into our contract what was important for us. For the first time, we leveled the playing field with our employer.

I enjoy my job, but there is a lot of room for improvement at my job. We need better pay. We need respect for the professional jobs that we do. We need to see an end to the favoritism. We need health insurance.

Safety is my top priority. I couldn’t live with myself if something happened to my kids. I love the kids and I take my job very seriously.

The power of our union has kept management in line.

It made our jobs all the more difficult when we would strive to achieve the highest levels of performance only to be faced with poor, unsafe working conditions at our yard in Iowa City.

I work two jobs—at the United States Postal Service and at First Student. As I go between my union and nonunion jobs I can see and feel the difference; it’s like night and day.

. . . this past September [First Student] took away our AETNA insurance and gave us a lousy supplemental insurance policy, USNow, that is expensive but doesn’t cover the necessities.