The bus transportation company Travel Kuz sent a cease-and-desist letter Wednesday to the Vermont Teamsters Local 597 alleging the union engaged in “unlawful” picketing practices and put student safety at risk.
The Teamsters Local 597 president denied the allegations, and local law enforcement said they did not witness criminal activity during Wednesday’s demonstration at Brattleboro Union High School.
The labor dispute began when the company, affiliated with Beacon Mobility, locked out its Vermont union bus drivers and monitors from the Brattleboro headquarters last week after contract negotiations broke down.
Travel Kuz provides student transportation for Windham Southeast Supervisory Union schools in Brattleboro, Dummerston, Guilford, Putney and Vernon. The union bus drivers and monitors with Teamsters Local 597 typically handle school routes for the 10 schools in the supervisory union, but they have not been allowed to work with their employer Travel Kuz due to the lockout.
Since the work stoppage by Travel Kuz, the union drivers and monitors have been on the picket line. The company brought in replacement workers to serve Windham Southeast Supervisory Union schools for the start of the school year.
Travel Kuz claimed that union members picketing Wednesday at Brattleboro Union High School spat on school buses, blocked school bus access, caused traffic disruptions and hazardous conditions and displayed “obscene and aggressive behavior toward students and drivers,” according to a Travel Kuz press release.
Curtis Clough, president of Teamsters Local 597, denied the allegations of union members spitting, risking public safety or otherwise causing harm to students or drivers. He said the union members did cross the street a few times during the picketing but that is a legally protected activity.
He said the union is looking into taking legal action against the company and the company’s counsel due to allegations in the letter. He said it is the company’s actions — tapping replacement workers and preventing local bus drivers and monitors who are more familiar with the community and school routes from working — that are detrimental to students, not the union demonstrations.
“We didn’t put any students in danger yesterday,” Clough said. “They were the ones that put students in danger by locking out the bus drivers.”
The Travel Kuz company is seeking injunctive relief against the union and claimed to be working with local authorities and legal counsel to “ensure compliance with labor laws and public safety standards,” according to the press release.
Clough said Brattleboro police were present during picketing and did not issue any citations or tell the union to cease demonstrating.
Brattleboro Police Capt. Adam Petlock confirmed that officers were present at Brattleboro High School during the picketing because it is customary to have law enforcement stationed at schools during the first week of school.
Petlock said the role of law enforcement is to respect the right of people to protest and engage in protected First Amendment activities while ensuring the safety of children and the public.
Officers who were present during picketing demonstrations witnessed “no criminal violations” by union members, Petlock said, and Travel Kuz has not contacted Brattleboro law enforcement to his knowledge.
Brattleboro resident Ian Turner, a parent of two students in the supervisory union, said that the lockout has caused inconvenience and safety concerns for his family as they are forgoing bus transportation for their children during the lockout.
One of Turner’s children enrolled in the 10th grade is nonverbal and needs preparation to use the bus, and was comfortable with the union driver and monitors during the previous year, he said. Turner said he has reached out to Travel Kuz and the company has yet to communicate a transportation plan, and the lockout by the company is disruptive to his child’s education.
Turner said he talked with the union members picketing outside of Brattleboro Union High School yesterday and did not witness any aggressive behavior. On the contrary, Turner said he has generally seen union picketing garnering positive reactions from parents and he considers the union bus drivers and monitors to be trusted members of the community.
Lena Melentijevic, a spokesperson for the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, wrote in a statement many of the drivers are part of the community and have students in the supervisory union.
“Travel Kuz is failing in its desperate attempts to distract the public from the truth — this company locked out its own workers, preventing them from returning to work since last week,” Melentijevic wrote in a statement. “This lockout could end today if the company chose to end it.”
Clough said the contract negotiations are still active despite the labor dispute, and the Teamsters Local 597 will work to agree on a fair contract.
“We’re gonna be out there on the picket lines until the company gives us a fair contract,” Clough said. “They’ve locked us out. They say they’re not gonna let us back in until we agree to a contract, so it’s gonna have to be a fair one.”
The Windham Southeast Supervisory Union superintendent did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
