School bus drivers that service the Middletown and Cromwell School Districts and are represented by Teamsters Union Local 671 voted unanimously on Monday to authorize a strike that would begin on Oct. 1 if no contract agreement is reached with DATTCO, their employer.
The union members authorized the strike after months of negotiating with DATTCO, “whose proposals fail to reflect the essential services Teamsters provide to get students to and from school safely every day,” the union said in a statement on Monday.
The Teamsters previously agreed to extensions through Sept. 30 on DATTCO contracts under renegotiation in Bloomfield, East Hartford, Middletown and Cromwell to “ensure students get a positive start to their school year with the continued support and work of their school bus drivers,” according to the statement. The contracts expired on July 1.
CT school bus drivers prepared to strike if contract not settled as union extends negotiations
Teamsters Local 671 also represents school bus drivers employed by DATTCO in Windsor, Coventry and Hebron. “If the Teamsters go on strike at any DATTCO bus yard, Local 671 will extend the picket line to the five other DATTCO yards, where Teamsters have the legal right to honor the picket line and not go to work,” the union said Monday.
“DATTCO School Bus Teamsters work hard to get our students to and from school safely every day. They have a special bond with our students and parents, and many Teamsters are parents themselves with children who rely on consistent school bus services,” said Anthony Lepore, principal officer of Teamsters Local 671. “Drivers’ working conditions are students’ travel conditions. If DATTCO and the various municipalities are taking students’ travel conditions seriously, they must work together to ensure our school bus drivers get a contract with the respect and dignity they deserve.”
The Teamsters previously organized a practice picket outside the DATTCO Middletown bus yard at 131 Tuttle Road on June 6, supported by elected officials such as Cromwell Mayor James Demetriades.
“A contract negotiation is a fight. It is a fight for what is right, it is a fight for respect,” said Demetriades. “We need to stick together as brothers and sisters — of different unions and different backgrounds — to say to management: treat us with respect because without us, there would be no you.”
