Vince Groome, owner of Groome Transportation, met with Tiger Transit drivers Wednesday, Oct. 9 to discuss employee complaints.
Transit driver Cassandra Young said negotiations with Groome went well, and Groome promised to create a list of upcoming benefits by Friday, Oct. 12.
"We did sit down, face-to-face, and had a peaceful discussion in a respectful manner," Young said. "We're not going to protest tomorrow, but we did tell him if he didn't do it by Friday in writing, which he's promising us now, we're going to have to take further action."
The meeting with Groome was the latest in a long series of communications between transit drivers and Groome management.
Laura McConnell, director of employee development at Groome, visited Auburn to observe and talk to the drivers.
"We are looking at these issues and what we can do to improve conditions," McConnell said. "We want to do everything we legally need to do, and we're willing to do everything we legally need to do. I have talked with Auburn officials, and I've been talking to our drivers, then I am going back to our corporate office and letting them know what drivers are telling me."
Despite attempts at communication, the exact nature of working conditions is under dispute.
One of the benefits drivers hope to receive are breaks during the day, but McConnell said she already observed drivers being relieved from duty.
"I was out on the sidewalk myself, and I watched drivers getting on and off the buses for breaks," McConnell said. "I even asked some of the drivers what they were doing, and there were drivers specifically there for break relief."
Young said what McConnell saw was not representative of a normal working day.
"They do not give us breaks all the time," Young said. "Sometimes people work all day and don't get a break. They were just doing that to cover things up. People don't get that all the time. As a matter of fact, on Mell Street where she didn't see, a lot of people didn't get breaks or lunch."
Auburn became involved when a written declaration from Groome employees was sent both to Auburn City Councilman Arthur Dowdell and Bob Ritenbaugh, Auburn's vice president of auxiliary services.
"I'm doing some investigation," Ritenbaugh said. "They've expressed some frustration with the management Groome is giving them, so we're going to investigate."
Auburn is now in discussion with Groome Transportation management about the contract between the two organizations.
"We're still working through some of these issues," said Groome attorney Jared Churchill. "We want to make sure we do right by everyone. We have a contractual obligation to Auburn and their students, and we want to make sure we meet those, but at the same time, we want to make sure our employees are satisfied and continue to work in conditions that are good for them."
Young said she hopes Groome will address problems such as unpaid overtime hours and insurance.
"Every time I apply for my insurance I never qualify, but, in the contract, if you're a hired full-time employee you're supposed to get everything," Young said. "I ain't got nothing out of that. I haven't had holiday pay or sick day pay. We've been going through great distress. I've been having a lot of pains even in my body from being over-exhausted, and I can't even go to the doctor."
McConnell said increasing employee benefits would be relatively easy, but did not want to address the issue of overtime pay.
Transit driver Omar Muhammad said he often logs about 55 hours a week, and he hasn't received overtime since March 1.
Young said another area of concern was Groome's treatment of Clarence Cobb, former general manager of Auburn's transit drivers.
"Mr. Cobb, the man they just fired, he was standing up for us, and he doesn't even really know the reason he got fired," Young said. "To my knowledge, Mr. Groome wanted to take more things from us, and he told (Cobb) that he was sensitive, meaning he was feeling sorry for the employees."
Cobb said Alabama's at-will employment law allowed Groome to fire him without telling him why, but he thought it might be partly due to his sympathy for Groome employees.
Churchill, however, said Cobb was removed from his office for different reasons, though he did not want to comment on specifics.
"There were other issues that were brought to our attention about the manager, so we had to terminate him," Churchill said. "A lot of the stuff we do is driven by our manager, and we'd been hearing about these grievances, so we decided to make some changes."
Young said many of the transit drivers were disappointed when Cobb was replaced.
"I was very concerned," Young said. "I've known him for over 12 years. He's like a father figure to me, and I know he's a man of honesty, and he always fought for us and stood up for us no matter what. We feel like our backbone's been taken away from us."
Though Cobb left Groome approximately two weeks ago, Young said his absence wasn't the cause of the drivers' petition.
"That's still not why we're standing up for our rights," Young said. "We miss him, and we had a lot of respect for him, but we're standing up for ourselves. We're standing up because we're tired of feeling like they're pissing on our head and telling us it's raining."
Young said a lot of drivers were nervous about confronting Groome, but she hopes to see results soon.
"There's a lot of people who love that job," Young said. "They don't want to lose that job, but sometimes you have to do what you have to do to survive."
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