WASHINGTON, April 17, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A
report released today by two Members of United Kingdom's Parliament, Ian Lavery and Jim
Sheridan, reveals serious labor rights violations at
National Express Group PLC (LON: NEX) operations in the United States. The report's
recommendations support a Teamster-sponsored shareholder resolution
that will be voted on at the company's annual general meeting of
shareholders on May 6 in London.
The proposal is a shareholder resolution calling for an
independent review of employment practices in National Express's
U.S. school bus business. National Express is the parent company to
Durham School Services, the second-largest school bus
transportation provider in the United
States. The resolution is sponsored by holders of
approximately two percent of the company's stock, including
United Kingdom pension fund
members of the Local Authority Pension Fund Forum.
The report, "Broken Commitments, Vulnerable Workers," reveals
the Parliamentarians' serious concerns over systemic anti-union
bias at National Express's U.S. subsidiary and calls for
intervention by the company's Board of Directors to resolve these
issues.
The report details their concerns with safety and maintenance,
as well as retaliation against workers exercising their
federally-protected right to form a union. The report highlights
poor worker treatment and working conditions, including wage theft,
at the company's U.S. school bus yards.
Lavery and Sheridan traveled to the
United States in February after hearing reports from
Durham school bus workers, parents
and community leaders about poor working conditions and anti-union
bias at Durham operations in the
U.S. The Members of Parliament traveled to Charleston, S.C. and Memphis, Tenn., to meet with dozens of school
bus drivers and monitors and attend community meetings where
concerns were raised about the company's operations.
Their findings led to more than 30 of their colleagues in
Parliament putting forth an Early Day Motion, condemning the
anti-trade union activities of National Express, and stating their
belief that the company has "largely ignored the safety concerns
raised by employees and parents alike when transporting children to
and from school."
"If anyone can tell me why hardworking people in the United States should be treated different
from hardworking people in the U.K. at the same company, I'll
listen. All school bus workers should be treated with respect and
be provided with safe and roadworthy buses appropriate for
transporting children," Lavery said.
The Members spoke with Durham
school bus workers from South
Carolina, Tennessee,
Florida, Illinois and New
Mexico about their experiences working for the company, and
included their findings in the report.
"We find depressing the stories we are hearing from U.S. workers
about the way a subsidiary of a renowned U.K.-based company treats
its workers. A child in the United States
of America is just as important as a child in the U.K.
What we've heard from the drivers leaves a lot to be desired and
the company needs to sit down with the unions because it is every
worker's fundamental right," Sheridan said
The report concludes there is need for intervention from the
National Express Board of Directors to take a collaborative
approach with unions in North
America. This includes in places like Santa Rosa County, Fla., where Durham drivers and monitors voted
overwhelmingly in February 2013 in
favor of representation by Teamsters Local 991 in nearby
Mobile, Ala. Two years later, the
company continues in its refusal to recognize the union. The
National Labor Relations Board has certified the workers' election
as valid.
The Teamsters' Drive Up Standards campaign is a global campaign
to improve safety, service and work standards in the private school
bus and transit industry. Since the campaign began in 2006, more
than 38,630 North American school bus and transit workers have
become Teamsters.
For more information on Drive Up Standards, go to
www.driveupstandards.org.
Founded in 1903, the Teamsters Union represents 1.4 million
hardworking men and women throughout the
United States, Canada and
Puerto Rico. Visit
www.teamster.org for more information. Follow us on Twitter
@Teamsters and "like" us on Facebook at
www.facebook.com/teamsters
Contact:
Kara Deniz, (202) 624-6911
kdeniz@teamster.org
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SOURCE International Brotherhood of Teamsters