It was probably about two weeks ago when I was at the IBT, having a smoke with a friend who has worked with the Teamsters for more than 30 years. We were chatting about a campaign that was lost and what we thought the real reasons for the defeat could have been. A few ideas went back and forth and he finally said to me, "The best way to get back from a defeat is to get a victory."

I was thinking about this guy because a major car-hauler locked its doors today a week after the union struck the company --  a lot of Teamsters at this company will be on the job market come Monday morning.

In taking to the advice of the brother a few weeks ago, I decided to post another School Bus victory that went down in New Jersey. (The details of the victory are below).

If there is ever a campaign that all working people can stand behind, feel good about and watch unravel ... it is the School Bus and Transit Workers that the Teamsters are organizing one yard at a time.  

 New Jersey School Bus Workers Choose Teamsters

First Student school bus drivers, monitors, mechanics and fuelers in Neptune City, New Jersey, voted by more than a 4-to-1 margin recently in favor of joining Teamsters Local 469 in Hazlet, New Jersey. The 184 workers are the latest group to seek Teamster representation to improve their working conditions.

“We’ve all lost our voices because we were so excited and happy we were shouting,” said Katy Snyder, a First Student driver in Neptune City, about the 130-30 vote for Teamster representation. “We stuck together and now we’re looking for fair pay, benefits we can afford and respect.”

“We welcome these hardworking individuals into our local union,” said Fred Potter, International Union Vice President At-Large and President of Local 469. “These workers stood strong and remained united during the organizing campaign to become Teamster members. We will work hard to provide the representation necessary to reach a good contract that will improve the working conditions and the standard of living of these workers.”

Since last year, Local 469 has organized more than 700 First Student school bus workers in Trenton, Monmouth Junction and Piscataway, New Jersey.