Illinois Central bus drivers and monitors join AFSCME

The 52 school bus drivers and monitors from the Illinois Central bus company near Peoria have seen what AFSCME has accomplished for other school bus drivers in their region. 

Now they’ve formed their own union with AFSCME Council 31 so they can achieve what they’ve always wanted: fair pay and respect from management.

Brad Corkron, a school bus driver at Illinois Central for nine years, said that without a union employees could be fired for any infraction, no matter how small. Management would play favorites and deny promotions and safety accommodations to drivers and monitors they didn’t like. Workers vowed to form their union to end that unfair treatment.

“With a union, we’ll have our stewards, and those kinds of conversation won’t happen without a steward present,” Corkron said. “Then the bosses will be held accountable.”

Management fought the attempt to unionize every step of the way. They held an anti-union captive audience meeting where they told monitors if they wanted to earn more money, they could just become a driver instead. (Such meetings are now illegal after AFSCME helped pass a bill banning them in the spring legislative session.)

“What they said to monitors was essentially, ‘You’re a dime a dozen,’” Corkron said.

The meeting backfired on management, strengthening the commitment of many workers to continue fighting to form their union.

On top of winning respect, safer conditions and dignity on the job, employees are eager to fight for better pay for extra work like field trips and taking students to athletic events. They also want to close the wage gap between drivers and monitors.

“I lived in Georgia and saw how bad things are when unions are weakened,” Corkron said. “Once I got back to the great state of unions that is Illinois, I said I would never work for a company without one.”