------------------------- Via Workers World News Service Reprinted from the July 1, 2004 issue of Workers World newspaper -------------------------
BOSTON SCHOOL BUS DRIVERS: SOLIDARITY AGAINST RACISM AT HEART OF UNION FIGHT-BACK
By Stevan Kirschbaum Chief Steward, Readville, Steel Workers Local 8751 Boston
On June 15, over 150 multinational Boston school bus drivers and monitors, members of Steel Workers Local 8751, and their supporters took to the streets of the Charlestown section of Boston in a militant show of force. They marched on the corporate offices of First Student Inc., the city's bus management company.
At the front of the march was a banner that spanned the width of the street. It read, "First Student Inc.--Stop union busting, contract justice now!" Atop a sound truck/mobile stage donated by Boston Labor's ANSWER, union and com munity leaders broadcast their message non-stop through chant and song. A brightly-decorated 14-vehicle motorcade followed the marchers.
Though the procession snarled traffic as it wound toward the posh Shraft Center in the Sullivan Square rotary, neighborhood residents expressed solidarity with the union. Raised fists were seen and shouts of approval and car and truck horns were heard throughout the demonstration.
A massive police presence was dispatched to the area, led by the notorious Capt. Bernard O'Rourke, including many squad cars and motorcycles. But the posturing didn't deter the demonstrators, whose only permit was their rock solid determination.
FIRST STUDENT, CITY DEMAND CUTBACKS AND CONCESSIONS
First Student Inc., a British conglomerate, is the second-largest school bus management company in the U.S., with operating profits of over $380 million this year. It won the Boston management contract by promising the city administration tens of millions of dollars in cuts.
First Student, in collusion with the City of Boston, came to the negotiating table demanding huge concessions, including cuts to the drivers' pay, language demanding second-tier status for part-timers, intro duction of global positioning systems, speed-ups and job reclassifications, attacks on seniority and bid rights, and more.
At a June 10 negotiating session scheduled by First Student to present the company's final offer, the company issued another concession-filled ultimatum. Rank-and-file workers who packed the session said "No way!" and decided that the union's counter-offer should be presented through the June 15 protest.
As the demonstrators approached the Shraft Center's entrance, union workers from the firehouse next door came out to holler their solidarity. The bus drivers and monitors are part of a citywide union coalition that includes the firefighters, teachers, school custodians and others.
Marchers jammed the entrance and set up their mobile stage for a solidarity rally. The Shraft Center houses many corporate offices. Building security goons who tried to intimidate, photograph and attack the workers were pushed back.
Rich Rodgers of the 90,000-strong Greater Boston Labor Council pledged the council's support until the union wins justice. He declared, "This is what real unionism looks like. You have taken your struggle to the streets and we are with you." Joe Carlson of the Steel Workers International also pledged 100-percent support.
Moe Penn, a leader of Service Employ ees Local 888, led the gathering in singing, "Power, power, power! Unions have the power! Power by the hour! Working people power!"
Brother Lo of the Greater Roxbury Work ers Association, a leader in the fight for affirmative action in the building trades, brought greetings from his organization.
Local 8751 steward Bob Traynham lead the crowd in chanting, "First Student, we say no! Union busting has got to go!" to make sure they got the point.
Steve Gillis, president of the bus drivers and monitors local, said: "This is the fourth time in the span of one week that you have answered the call of your union and taken to the streets for contract justice. You have shown the company and their city backers that you will fight until the battle is won."
He urged everyone to join the upcoming July 25 protest at the Democratic National Convention.
At one point First Student Regional Vice-President Ted Leclerc slunk out to pick up the union's no-concession counter-proposal.
ATTACKS ON DESEGREGATION
Another important theme of the march was the need to fight the new wave of attacks on school desegregation.
On the 30th anniversary of Boston's desegregation case, the forces of racism have reared their ugly heads again. Rally ing behind the false slogan of a "return to neighborhood schools," theircampaign is a thinly- veiled plan to deny Boston's communities of color the right to equal education.
Led by Mayor Thomas Menino, City Council President Michael Flaherty and an assemblage of "anti-busing" segregationists, they are following in the footsteps of notorious bigots Louis Day Hicks, Pixie Paladino, Jim Kelly, and Bill Bulger. Their campaign is part of a national effort to turn back the gains of the historic civil-rights movement.
The White House and the State House are united. They want to abolish desegregation, affirmative action, bilingual education and more.
Local 8751 has stood with the community in its battle against racism since its founding nearly three decades ago. Many of the signs and chants June 15 reflected the long history of struggle on these issues.
It's worth noting that this demonstration by a 90-percent African American, Haitian and Cape Verdean union local received strong solidarity in Charlestown, a predominately white working-class neighborhood which had historically been linked to the racist anti- busing forces.
Charlestown has been the victim of cruel and widespread gentrification. It is clear that protests such as this union/ community rally strike blows against racism and show the way toward a united fight against the common enemy--capitalism.
After two hours the workers took to the streets again and marched back to the Charlestown bus yard. Brother Lo's closing chant summed up the day: "Eighty-seven fifty-one, we won't stop till the battle's won!"
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