Rochester bus drivers win union

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.workdayminnesota.org/index.php?news_6_3325

By Steve Share, Labor Review editor
12 October 2007

ROCHESTER - They voted. They waited 46 days for the results. And this Sunday they plan a party to celebrate. Bus operators and dispatchers at Rochester City Lines voted overwhelmingly Aug. 18 in a National Labor Relations Board election to unionize and become members of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1005.

Results of the vote were sealed pending an appeal by the employer over the make-up of the proposed bargaining unit. Then, Sept. 26, NLRB directors in Washington, D.C. issued a one-sentence decision upholding the Regional Director, who had ruled in favor of ATU's position.

The votes were counted Oct. 3 in Minneapolis: 35 votes for the union, nine opposed. Five ballots were contested, four by the union, one by the employer.

"There was nervousness as they were counted," said bus operator Terry Sprung, an 11-year employee of Rochester City Lines, who observed the count. "It turned out our calculations were pretty close."

When the lopsided count was concluded, said bus operator Dave Gosha, "the general manager, his face dropped to the floor."

Bus operators and dispatchers sought assistance organizing from the Minnesota AFL-CIO about four months ago. The state federation referred the inquiry to ATU Local 1005 in Minneapolis-St. Paul, which began an organizing campaign with the Rochester operators and dispatchers.


FULL story at link.