November 1999.

DRIVERS SPEAK OUT!

LIZ ALDRICH

Liz Aldrich tells it like it is.

I have 2 things to say. In case you are wondering whether this 35 hour guarantee is a good idea, or whether you're worth being paid 35 hrs a week, just take a little drive over to Fairfax street. Or go anywhere in the city and you'll see drivers driving those white Laidlaw vans and taking our work away from us. That's work that we ought to be doing. So if you're wondering if the company can afford to pay us to do the work that we deserve to do...They can afford it. They bill the school district something like $450.00 a route for 1 day. How much are you making for 1 day? $120.00 or so. They are earning roughly $300.00 a day on your route. And we have 216 routes, multiplied times $300.00. This is how much money they are making a day off our backs So if somebody says I'm greedy, I don't think so. I think I'm not getting my fair share of the work I do every day. To get these kids to school safely. And It's time that you got the money that you deserve. This is a greedy selfish comapny, and this is a war and we are not getting what we deserve! I think we need vision here. We're caught up in whether they are going to 'let us have this', No! They're not gonna let us have it. What we need to be concerned with is what we want and what we deserve. I would invite you to look all over again at what it would mean for you to have a full time job. A 35 hr a week job. So you could pay your bills We shared our stories at the beginning of the year of how much we have suffered. I would like to fund my 401k plan again. I haven't been able to put money in there. I think that I deserve to have a functioning 401k plan. I want you to be able to afford a life. It's tough on 6 hours a day. Can you afford your life right now? No! So look at what it is that you want and demand that from your negotiators. It's their job to go get it for us, and it's our job to back them up Thursday night!