To the Editors:

School bus drivers, aids, and mechanics in Lorain are presently entering their third week of striking against SBS Transit Inc. The bus drivers’ relatively young and inexperienced union, overwhelmingly made up of single women, is facing long grueling days of picket lines, without any source of income to provide for their families.

The issues at hand are many. The company is trying to rework the current health insurance agreement so that only 12 out of 220 workers will receive insurance. The bus drivers have no paid sick days. If they are sick longer than the Federal Mandated unpaid two weeks, they are automatically fired. SBS is also involved in highly creative methods of disguising their profits in order to avoid a two percent raise they have agreed to.

This situation has become urgent. SBS has been hiring permanent replacements for the strikers, rushing them through the training process in order to keep business running. Workers have been forced to seek alternative sources of income, and some have even crossed the picket line. Parents in the community are becoming concerned for the safety of their children, as the school bus service funded by their taxes is being placed in the hands of inadequately trained employees. The company knows, if they can just hold out until the end of the school year—which is only a COUPLE WEEKS away—they will be able to regroup over the summer without any concessions for the union. The outcome of this struggle is critical for labor in our county.

The bus drivers need your support! SBS has been trying to keep the coverage of this struggle to a minimum, so any pressure from the college and surrounding communities will be a wake up call. But we have to act FAST! A number of actions have been planned by members of surrounding unions in solidarity, and will be attended by members of SLAC and other student organizations. Just showing up at the picket line any day of the week has been immensely encouraging to the union. If you have any interest in lending support and/or outrage, please contact nina.sarnelle@oberlin.edu for more information.

–Nina Sarnelle
College first-year