CHATHAM \u2014 As Chicago Public Schools grapples with a bus driver shortage, employees at a South Side company \u2014 CPS\u2019 largest bus service provider for students with disabilities \u2014 are heading into week three of a strike demanding fairer treatment and higher wages.<\/p>\n
Long hours, a \u201chectic\u201d work environment and unequal treatment are among the reasons dozens of CPS paratransit and Pace drivers were on the picket line in Tuesday\u2019s sweltering heat outside SCR Medical Transportation, headquartered in Burnside.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re overworked and underpaid,\u201d said Leslie Scott, a CPS paratransit driver at SCR Medical Transportation. Scott was once was stranded alone on the expressway for hours on her broken-down school bus.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re out here with the kids every day, back and forth, doing what we need to do to make sure the kids get back home, but [SCR] doesn\u2019t care about us or helping us do what we need to do for them,\u201d Scott said.<\/p>\n
On Monday, the first day of school for CPS students, some SCR paratransit drivers crossed the picket line and arrived at SCR headquarters at 8801 S. Greenwood Ave. expecting to receive work \u2014 only to hear CPS pulled its contract with the company for the foreseeable future, SCR employee Linda Hudson said.<\/p>\n
SCR \u201cdidn\u2019t have the decency to call people and tell them not to come into work on Monday,\u201d Hudson said. Many of those workers subsequently joined the strike.<\/p>\n
SCR is the school district\u2019s largest paratransit vendor, representing \u201cover 45 percent of our fleet,\u201d according to a statement from CPS.<\/p>\n
SCR, a subsidiary of Beacon Family Mobility, serves 1.5 million passengers annually, including CPS students with disabilities.<\/p>\n
On Aug. 14, SCR employees \u2014 more than 800 of whom unionized in April with Teamsters Local 727 \u2014 announced an unfair labor practice strike after the company failed to provide a fair contract following months of negotiations.<\/p>\n
In anticipation of the strike, CPS minimized routes given to SCR and placed other vendors on notice, district officials said.<\/p>\n
SCR employees said company management is disrespectful, wages are below the industry\u2019s standard and work hours can be cut without notice, further reducing their pay.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe work with the most vulnerable people in our communities, and this company doesn\u2019t respect the employees,\u201d Hudson said. \u201cThey respect the bottom line.\u201d<\/p>\n
SCR made a proposal to begin paying starting employees $23 an hour, the industry standard, said Monique Johnson, a 16-year employee who is part of the union\u2019s bargaining team. But senior employees who\u2019ve been with the company over a decade earn $24.50 an hour, Johnson said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf SCR agrees to raise the starting pay, all employees should receive a raise,\u201d Johnson said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re telling us they don\u2019t care about the senior drivers, but we\u2019re all standing together and uniting as one,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cWe want them to treat us fair. That\u2019s all we\u2019re asking for. We have families like they do. We want to be able to provide for them, as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters is paying striking employees $1,000 per week to supplement the costs of daily living.<\/p>\n
\u201cMembers on the strike line are saying they can\u2019t pay their rent or car payments,\u201d said Caleen Carter-Patton, a union spokesperson. \u201cThey dream of taking their kids on vacation some day. They\u2019re not asking to be millionaires. They\u2019re asking for a middle-class life.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kristin Persu, vice president of SCR, called the Teamster union\u2019s demands \u201cfinancially unrealistic\u201d in a statement issued Friday to Block Club.<\/p>\n
While negotiations with the union are ongoing, SCR has \u201cbeen put in the untenable position to now transition negotiations to potentially surrender our contract with the Chicago Public Schools,\u201d Persu said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWork remains available for employees who wish to work, and we will remain at the table to reach an agreement in good faith that will preserve jobs and end the strike,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Since the strike began, CPS and other organizations that use SCR\u2019s services have had to pivot.<\/p>\n
Pace, one of the nation\u2019s largest bus services, has advised ADA paratransit passengers to take other sources of transportation during the strike, the Sun-Times reported. Metra and the Chicago Transit Authority are waiving fairs for paratransit riders.<\/p>\n
The scarcity of qualified drivers \u201chas forced CPS to prioritize yellow bus transportation for our most vulnerable students,\u201d district officials said in a statement. The district saw a 37 percent increase in qualified yellow bus drivers this school year, but a higher percentage of families need transportation services.<\/p>\n
Nearly 15,600 CPS students are eligible for transportation, according to district data. Of that, the district received 10,695 transportation requests for students with disabilities \u2014 a 50 percent increase from last year, officials said.<\/p>\n
Nearly 8,800 students with disabilities have received transportation this year, but 1,913 still don\u2019t have rides to school, according to CPS.<\/p>\n
CPS is collaborating with other vendors to coordinate routes during the strike, but if families of students with disabilities aren\u2019t given a bus route, they can receive $25 per day until the district finds another transportation provider, the district\u2019s statement said.<\/p>\n
\u201cShould the strike continue, the District\u2019s operational ability to route and transport additional students will be impacted.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hudson, who has been with SCR for about a year, has \u201cnever worked in an environment where you\u2019re so totally disrespected,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Management has yelled explicit words at employees and \u201cchanged rules on a dime,\u201d Hudson said.<\/p>\n
Scott, the bus driver from Roseland, said long and unpredictable work hours aren\u2019t uncommon. She begins her North Side bus route at 5:45 a.m., picking up and dropping off CPS students with disabilities.<\/p>\n
The morning her bus broke down after returning from school drop-offs, Scott said the company eventually sent help, but she didn\u2019t make it back to the company\u2019s offices until 7 p.m. to clock out.<\/p>\n
The single mom of five had to pick up her boys from the local police station because their daycare had already closed, she said. Still, she was expected to show up bright and early the next day \u2014 and she did.<\/p>\n
These days, Scott pays for someone to pick up and drop off her children on weekdays, an extra expense that threatens her ability to make a living wage and support her family, she said.<\/p>\n
Scott said she hopes to one day afford a vacation for her children. They have their passports ready for when the opportunity arrives.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe should all be treated equally,\u201d Scott said. \u201cTheir bills are getting paid. Ours need to be paid too.\u201d<\/p>\n
Conclusion:<\/strong><\/p>\n The strike by SCR Medical Transportation employees highlights the struggles faced by low-wage workers in the transportation industry. Despite their hard work and dedication, these employees are often underpaid and overworked, leading to burnout and financial difficulties. The strike also highlights the importance of fair labor practices and the need for employers to prioritize the well-being of their employees.<\/p>\n FAQs:<\/strong><\/p>\n Q: Why are SCR Medical Transportation employees on strike? Q: What are the main issues the employees are facing? Q: How many employees are affected by the strike? Q: What is the impact of the strike on CPS students with disabilities? Q: How long has the strike been ongoing? Q: What is the International Brotherhood of Teamsters doing to support the striking employees? CHATHAM \u2014 As Chicago Public Schools grapples with a bus driver shortage, employees at a South Side company \u2014 CPS\u2019 largest bus service provider for students with disabilities \u2014 are heading into week three of a strike demanding fairer treatment and higher wages. Long hours, a \u201chectic\u201d work environment and unequal treatment are among the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":481,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-480","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-education"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bcc-newspack.s3.amazonaws.com\/uploads\/2024\/08\/SCR-Strike-6.png?fit=2000%2C1300&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/480"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=480"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/480\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":482,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/480\/revisions\/482"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/481"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=480"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=480"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=480"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nA: The employees are on strike because they are demanding fairer treatment and higher wages.<\/p>\n
\nA: The employees are facing long hours, a \u201chectic\u201d work environment, and unequal treatment.<\/p>\n
\nA: Over 800 employees are affected by the strike.<\/p>\n
\nA: The strike is impacting the transportation services provided to CPS students with disabilities, with some students still not having rides to school.<\/p>\n
\nA: The strike has been ongoing for three weeks.<\/p>\n
\nA: The International Brotherhood of Teamsters is paying striking employees $1,000 per week to supplement the costs of daily living.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"