Union leaders, parents, and students are calling for the reinstatement of five longtime Richmond Public Schools bus drivers who were fired after protesting proposed changes to their overtime pay.

The future of the drivers—who collectively have more than 75 years of service with RPS—was a central issue at Tuesday’s School Board meeting. More than two dozen people, including members of the Richmond Education Association, Teamsters Local 322 and Laborers’ International Union of North America Local 804, rallied outside City Hall before the meeting in support of the workers.

 Chris Hollis addressed collective concerns of Richmond Public Schools (RPS) Unions, REA, LiUNA, and Teamsters Local 322, at a press conference on Tuesday, May 6 outside of the 9 street entrance of Richmond City Hall, to call out anti-union behavior by the RPS administration after five veteran bus drivers were abruptly fired on April 8 from RPS after advocating for fair compensation at a School Board meeting. The group held up their hands with 5 fingers out to represent the “RPS 5” and then closed them into fists to represent solidarity for the drivers.
 

Attendees spoke about the drivers’ value to the school system and criticized the firings, which followed their appearance at an April 8 School Board meeting to speak out against proposed changes to afterschool route pay.

“We were invited to and we attended a School Board meeting like we do every month to address the issues that drivers face,” said Kimya Williams, one of the  terminated drivers. She and the four others Catina Hickman, Sonny Randolph, Darryl Brinson-Williams and Cynthia Kole have also been barred from public employment for a year.

For students, parents and staff that have relied on some of the drivers for years, their absence is deeply felt.

“I’m trying to do everything I can to get these five back,” said parent Dwaun Williams. She stood beside Randolph, a bus driver who has worked with RPS for almost a decade, and praised the impact he has had on her autistic son’s life. Tears filled Randolph’s eyes as she spoke.

The drivers and their supporters accounted for the majority of speakers during a 40 minute public comment period in the meeting itself. Alongside others present for separate matters, the audience completely filled out the meeting room and its auxiliary room.

A recent email from Superintendent Jason Kamras, obtained by the Free Press, stated the drivers were dismissed after RPS determined they had unlawfully “called out” of work to attend the April 8 meeting, disrupting transportation for afterschool programs.

“We welcome — encourage, in fact —our employees to make their voices heard,” Kamras wrote. “But not at the expense of students and families.”

For REA President Anne Forrester and other union leaders, the firings were another example of leadership’s poor labor priorities. During the press conference, Forrester mentioned other actions by leadership that have affected RPS workers, including the firing of her predecessor Neri Suarez.

  

Forrester also noted that no drivers were fired after more than 70 called out in February due to unsafe weather and road conditions.

“The RPS administration’s support for workers’ rights, collective bargaining and First  Amendment rights is conditional,” Forrester said. “When workers exercising those rights hurt the administration’s reputation or public perception, all bets are off and the retaliation will be swift.”

“Fortunately, it is not too late for this wrong to be set right.”