Kankakee Location Becomes Third Illinois Central School Bus Yard to Join Local 179

(KANKAKEE, Ill.) – Today, School bus drivers and monitors at Illinois Central in Kankakee, Ill. voted to join Teamsters Local 179. The 90 workers are part of a growing movement of drivers and monitors across the country who are organizing with the union because of the representation and benefits that come with a Teamster contract.

“At Local 179 we represent more than 1,000 bus drivers including drivers at the Wilmington and Coal City Illinois Central locations,” said Tony Seminary, Local 179 Organizer and Business Agent. “We are excited to have another Illinois Central yard on board with us and look forward to securing them a strong first contract.”

Driver Llora Kranich and her fellow workers at the Kankakee yard wanted to secure a strong union to represent their interests and help the address on-the-job issues like wages, favoritism and job security.

“We worked hard to bring this victory home and I’m so thrilled that now we’ll have a chance to negotiate our first contract,” said Kranich. “Thousands of school bus drivers throughout Illinois are better off because of their Teamsters membership, and soon we will be too.”

Teamsters Local 179 represents workers in a wide variety of industries throughout the Chicago metropolitan area. For more information, go to http://www.teamsters179.com.