Russell Evans

Paratransit Services, Bend, Ore. Amalgamated Transit Union

Russell Evans

Russell Evans is a bus driver for Paratransit Services in Bend, Ore.  Russell and his co-workers provide public transportation to the Bend Area Transit system and the people of Bend, Ore.

Evans and his co-workers decided to form their union due to low pay, expensive benefits and a lack of full-time work. Despite repeatedly requesting more hours, Evans was kept just below full-time status. Not only did this mean he was making less money, but Evans' part-time status also meant he had to pay four times what a full-time employee pays for their health insurance. Evans pays $200 per month for health insurance for himself, and it would cost him more than $1,000 to insure his entire family, nearly as much as he makes in wages. 

Evans and his co-workers began forming their union in 2006 and the company immediately responded by intimidating and harassing them. The company held mandatory meetings against the workers’ union and the president and CEO came and met in small groups with the workers to discourage them from voting for the union. They predicted the company would lose its contract with the city if the workers formed a union and, as a result, people could lose their jobs. Evans and other workers who were singled out as union supporters received memos reading in bold print, “You are not invited to this meeting.” Evans says the atmosphere became very tense.  “You felt excluded and discriminated against.” 

Despite the company’s campaign against the workers’ union, the workers won their union in January 2007. Unfortunately, the company challenged the election results. The regional National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruled in the workers’ favor, but the company appealed, this time to the NLRB in Washington.  Evans, who testified at the NLRB hearing and who appealed to the Bend City Council to support the workers, says things remained extremely tense and that he lived in constant fear of losing his job. “We had to walk a very tight line. You felt like they were looking for excuses to fire you.” 

And that is exactly what happened. Evans was fired on April 13. After a plea from the City Council, Paratransit Services dropped its appeal in May, five months after the workers voted for their union. Evans has been reinstated and he and his co-workers look forward to beginning the process of bargaining their first contract.