First Transit, Occupy collide in dispute

But some students — including members of Occupy Princeton — are continuing to be supportive of the driver’s choice in the aftermath of the conflict. Meanwhile, First Transit, the company that operates TigerTransit, strongly denied that the driver’s suspension was related to an attempt to unionize.

Occupy Princeton publicized the suspension heavily on University listservs in emails with subject lines such as “Injustice on Campus,” and in leaflets titled “Where’s Al?”

“PLEASE READ AND TAKE IMMEDIATE ACTION ON THE FOLLOWING: OUR DRIVERS’ RIGHTS ARE UNDER ATTACK,” the original email read.

According to Occupy Princeton member Derek Gideon ’12, Al was in the process of organizing the union when a supervisor found a letter describing his plans. After being monitored by a supervisor, the driver received a two-day suspension from FirstTransit — the company that provides University shuttle services for students, faculty and staff. The company attributed the suspension to safety concerns.

Nikhil Deshmukh GS, who said he knew Al personally because he frequently rode the bus driver’s route from the graduate college to the main campus, said it was clear that the driver was suspended due to his attempt to unionize his coworkers.

“It seems obvious that this is in response to Al’s role in the organization of a union,” Deshmukh said. “I feel bad that he was suspended for what seemed to be like a BS reason.”

Timothy Stokes, a spokesperson from First Transit, denied that Al’s suspension was related to his apparent plans for unionization.

“This driver was not suspended due to anything having to do with the union discussions,” Stokes said. “This driver was removed from service due to safety violations. Our team evaluates routes routinely to make sure that safety policies and practices are followed at all times.”

He said the company maintains a freedom-of-association policy that allows its employees to unionize.

“First Transit will not interfere with any employee’s decision to join union membership,” Stokes said. “We leave that decision solely with the employees. That policy has been prominent for the company for many years, and we have many locations where our employees are active members of their respective unions.”

“Also, workers can always contact the company hotline or the human resources department with their concerns,” Stokes added.

Deshmukh said he first heard about Al’s suspension while eating a meal at 2D — the vegetarian co-op on Dickinson Street — with Gideon and another student. Al is the kind of person who would lead the charge toward unionization, he said.

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“He is a friendly guy,” Deshmukh said. “He makes conversation and chats people up. I was not surprised that he was the one organizing the union. He seems like the type who would do just that.”

After students began learning of Al’s suspension, Director of Transportation and Parking Services Kim Jackson received emails from students with questions about the decision.

But she said in an email to The Daily Princetonian that, because the drivers were not University employees, she declined to comment on their treatment and referred questions relating to the suspension to FirstTransit.

Meanwhile, students took to the buses to show their support for bus drivers. While Joshua Shulman ’13 was passing out “Where’s Al?” leaflets, he said he told one of the bus drivers that the drivers had student support.

“The driver seemed very grateful and told me that all the drivers would like is to be of good service to the students so we would be happy,” Shulman explained in an email.

In addition to publicizing the incident with emails and flyers, Occupy Princeton planned a meeting last Wednesday night to come up with ideas to protest the suspension. One of the organizers, J. Vahid Brown GS, did not comment on the situation.

But before that meeting could take place, the suspension was lifted. On Tuesday afternoon, Brown sent another message to the group informing them of the news. Yet he still encouraged Occupy members to vocalize their support for the drivers’ right to determine whether or not they’d like to unionize.

Gideon noted that the entire incident indicated a change in people’s perception of the campus movement.

“Occupy is mainly recognized on campus for disrupting recruiting sessions for Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan, but we are equally proud to defend someone for being suspended quite possibly for standing up for his right to organize,” Gideon said. “Starting this discussion is as important as challenging student culture, as it is a matter of mobilizing the University community around supporting people.”