Teacher's union out of race to represent District 300 bus drivers

The state's largest teacher's union has been knocked out of the race to represent bus drivers in Community Unit District 300, a labor official said Wednesday.

The Illinois Education Association, which represents most District 300 teachers, will not be on the ballot when more than 200 bus drivers vote on whether to unionize next month.

"They've been eliminated because they finished third in that first election," said Joe Barker, director of the National Labor Relations Board in Chicago.

The Teamsters emerged from an October election with the most votes by far, but the results were inconclusive because of several disputed ballots.

The unions and the drivers' employer, Durham School Services, have reached an agreement that resolves the challenged votes and sets the stage for a runoff election on Jan. 23, Barker said.

In the runoff election, drivers will be able to vote for the Teamsters or for no union. The Teamsters only need to win over about 10 drivers who voted for the Illinois Education Association last time to win the runoff, based on vote totals from the October election.

Durham and the Illinois Education Association, which represented drivers before District 300 privatized its transportation contract in 2007, had been meeting to negotiate a contract.

Although the Illinois Education Association is still technically the rightful union, those negotiations, which did not produce a contract, have ended because the teacher's union is essentially a lame duck.

"We're looking forward to a resolution," said Laura Osheaski, a spokeswoman for Durham.

The Illinois Education Association and the Teamsters could not be reached for comment late Wednesday afternoon.