National Express Group’s US ‘Human Rights’ Record Under Fire

Unite Press Release

Wednesday, 9 May 2012

National Express Group’s US ‘Human Rights’ Record Under Fire At AGM

National Express Group will be accused of pushing human rights in its North American operations ‘to the edge of the letter of the law’, when its London AGM is held tomorrow (Thursday, 10 May).

Representatives of the US-based Teamsters Union will raise National Express’s ‘abysmal’ record in North America at the AGM to be held at Kings Place, 90 York Way in London at 2pm on Thursday. They will be part of an international delegation joined by colleagues from the Unite, the International TransportWorkers’ Federation (ITF) and the TWU.

The ‘name-and-shame’ tactics will be based on the recent report, National Express Group’s Diminution of Labor Rights in the U.S commissioned by Britain’s largest union, Unite and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.

The report’ starkly concludes that the company’s policy enables it to continue anti-union behaviour in North America, rather than appropriately protecting the human rights of its workers.

Unite’s assistant general secretary, Diana Holland said: “It is clear that National Express’s actions in North America are at the edge of the letter of the law. Numerous complaints have been raised with the US authorities over the years.”

“We hope that the Teamsters’ intervention at the annual meeting will shame the company to stop its abysmal anti-employee attitudes in the US and prevent any such behaviour creeping into its UK operations.”

ITF (International Transport Workers' Federation) inland transport section secretary Mac Urata added: "These workers are being put on the rack when they raise concerns about respect at work, safety and their right to a union. The culture of local management aggression detailed in Professor Logan's report must and will bechallenged, nationally and internationally."

Over the course of a decade serious concerns have been raised over the negative human rights and labour relations record of National Express Group’s US private school bus transportation subsidiary, Durham School Services.

The company has been the recipient of many U.S. National Labor Relations Board complaints and charges that raised concerns of unlawful terminations, surveillance, retribution and disparate treatment of its employees who supported unions.

The report was written by respected academic, Professor John Logan, who is the Director of Labor and Employment Studies at San Francisco State University College of Business.

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Notes:
• Unite is Britain and Ireland’s largest trade union with 1.5 million members working across all sectors of the economy. The general secretary is Len McCluskey.

• Founded in 1903, the Teamsters Union represents 1.4 million hardworking men and women throughout the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. Visit www.teamster.org for more information. Follow us on Twitter @TeamsterPower.

• The report, ‘National Express Group’s Diminution of Labor Rights in the U.S,’can be found via this link: http://www.schoolbusworkersunited.org/sites/schoolbusworkersunited.org/files/121311NationalExpressLoganReportFinal.pdf

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