Articles by Mike Elk

Newsletter November 25, 2016

Overwork Cited in Tenn. Bus Deaths – Trump Ag Advisor Reverses on Deportations – Louisville GE Offering $12 An Hour

Yesterday, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) announced that the bus driver, Johnthony Walker, that in addition to his duties as a bus driver that Walker also worked the graveyard shift. Starting wages for bus drivers at Durham in Chattanooga are only $13.30 an hour and in order to provide for his three-year-old daughter, the 24-year-old Walker routinely worked from 6 P.M. to 6 A.M. at Amazon’s warehouse several nights a week.

Articles November 23, 2016

Deadly Chattanooga School Bus Company Has Long History of Worker Intimidation & Safety Violations

Many drivers say that the lack of training for school bus drivers employed by Durham and the low pay that makes it difficult to attract more skilled drivers. According to the wage tracking site GlassDoor.com, Durham School Services pays bus drivers on average only $14.92 an hour with many bus drivers being forced to take seasonal jobs, when school is out of session. Indeed, Genevere Walker, the mother of Jonnthony Walker, told CNN that her son was forced to work two jobs in order to make ends meet.

Newsletter November 18, 2016

Trump Could Bust Louisville UPS Strike – S.C. Boeing Union Election Nears – Hoffa Narrowly Leads Zuckerman – D.C. Grocery Workers Avert Strike

“We’re glad that UPS can afford to invest in beefing up its international fleet,” said Jim Kelley, an aircraft mechanic at UPS’s Worldport facility in Louisville, Kentucky in a press release. “But if UPS can afford major capital investments and huge raises for top brass, then UPS can also choose to invest in the maintenance workers who do strenuous and dangerous work every day to make its success possible”