Recently a worker sent several pictures to me that had been taken at a First Student location.  It showed the dangers workers are having to maneuver around just to make it out to a bus.  The icicles hanging over their heads were nearly 2 ft long and the picture showed the mounds of ice workers were having to slide around on.  At this same location during their last year's springtime thaw, the electric cords were laying in puddles of water.  Workers reported this dangerous situation to First Student management but the problem was only resolved when the puddle dried up.

Not long ago, at another location in the same region, a bus monitor fell while walking to her bus.  When the office was notified their answer to her was not of deep sympathy or we'll take care of the icy ruts, no their response was simple, "You should have been more careful"!  What kind of attitude is this to their employees.  The woman was in her later 50's and it was clearly the company who was negligent in making the parking area safe for their employees.

As a past bus driver for 17 years, I was shocked and saddened by a statement like this.  To think a company you are giving so much to doesn't think enough of their employees to clear away the dangers.  I supposed I am so amazed by this callus behavior by FS because I came from a Laidlaw yard where we had been organized many years.  Our boss would make sure the ice was not hanging over head off the guttering or the snow was removed almost immediately from the parking areas, which included where we parked our personal vehicles.  Every year we were given a set of ICE CLEATS.  That's right, the rubber band like things that fit over your footwear with the cleats like a golfer's shoe.  Spending a few dollars per pair was much cheaper than losing good employees.

At First Student, workers are already skating on thin ice.  If they take a fall on the icy parking lot and have to put in a workman's comp claim, they lose their SAFETY BONUS.  But someone locations do not have to worry about that because FS froze their bonuses anyway!  Does this make sense to anyone?  I would think the company would need to be accountable for the hazards on their property whether they own it or lease it.  I believe that the First Student motto has been, "Safety First".  Maybe they should change that to "Be Careful it's Us First"!