Teamsters Local 623 members at the Philadelphia Greyhound station voted unanimously yesterday to ratify their new three year contract. The fight for this contract was long but workers stood firm and after picketing -- which generated significant media attention and broad support from the area labor movement -- the Company and the Union were able to move closer together.

On Wednesday September 16th, after months of negotiating, Greyhound ticket-agents, baggage handlers, and custodians cast ballots for a new Collective Bargaining Agreement. The ratification vote was unanimous and the new contract will take effect immediately.

The agreement features new protections that workers have never won in negotiations before, including:

• SAFETY: A new article on safety gives members power to grieve unsafe and unsanitary conditions.
• FUNERAL LEAVE: New language to extend bereavement leave to a wider layer of family members.
• DISCIPLINE: Additional progressive steps for discipline to prevent immediate or unjustified discharge.
• WORK PROTECTION: New language protects Bargaining Unit work to prevent supervisors from working.
• UNION PRESENCE: New language empowers union stewards and ensure their requested presence at all meetings with management.
• SCHEDULING: Stable and predictable scheduling; no split-shifts.
• BLACK OUTS: New article on Black Out rules provides senior employees with additional freedoms to use vacation and personal days during Black Out periods.

Workers pushed hard for wage raises from the Company. However, due to the contemporary challenges of the coronavirus, which have crippled the Company's operations, the fight over wages was left unresolved. The agreement features no give-backs on wages and a built-in wage re-opener addendum to allow the Union to return to negotiations over wages when the Company's operations are in better financial health.

The new agreement is set to expire in 2023.

The negotiating team would like to thank all members for their hard work on this contract. Together, under difficult circumstances, Local 623 won a strong agreement and we could not have done it without the unity and solidarity of all the workers involved.

2020 Greyhound Negotiating Committee

Richard Hooker Jr. —  Chairman, Principal Officer
Norman Cowlay — Vice-Chairman, Recording Secretary
Carolyn Natson — Committee-member, Shop-Steward
Terren Wilkins — Committee-member, Shop-Steward
Dino Guastella — Committee-member, Director of Operations