I’m a school bus driver in the US (Teamsters union). Our monthly dues are about $90 and we’re finding it difficult to get new drivers to join because of that. Our district is surrounded by non-unionized districts where they make about $8 less an hour and get none of the benefits we get, which include subsidized health insurance and a pension after ten years. We’re OK for now but if our union membership ever drops below 50% of the drivers our contract will be voided and then we’ll find out how shitty it is to not be represented by a union. But I can’t get the new drivers to understand this; the anti-union propaganda for the last fifty years hear (really, for a lot longer than that) has just been too overwhelming.
They make $8 more per hour, but are getting hung up on $90/month union dues? They do know that the difference alone would pay for that in like 12 hours, right?
I dunno if school bus drivers are public workers or not… If they are, the Supreme Court ruled a few years back that they don’t even need to pay full dues, even if they are part of the collective bargaining unit and are receiving all of the benefits of contract that was fully negotiated by the union.
It’s annoying, but it’s there. If they’re public employees, they don’t even need to pay full dues
I’m a school bus driver in the US (Teamsters union). Our monthly dues are about $90 and we’re finding it difficult to get new drivers to join because of that. Our district is surrounded by non-unionized districts where they make about $8 less an hour and get none of the benefits we get, which include subsidized health insurance and a pension after ten years. We’re OK for now but if our union membership ever drops below 50% of the drivers our contract will be voided and then we’ll find out how shitty it is to not be represented by a union. But I can’t get the new drivers to understand this; the anti-union propaganda for the last fifty years hear (really, for a lot longer than that) has just been too overwhelming.
They make $8 more per hour, but are getting hung up on $90/month union dues? They do know that the difference alone would pay for that in like 12 hours, right?
I dunno if school bus drivers are public workers or not… If they are, the Supreme Court ruled a few years back that they don’t even need to pay full dues, even if they are part of the collective bargaining unit and are receiving all of the benefits of contract that was fully negotiated by the union.
It’s annoying, but it’s there. If they’re public employees, they don’t even need to pay full dues