Twin Cities area clergy are urging the managers at First Student Transportation to provide a fair atmosphere for an upcoming union vote by 1,500 school bus drivers and other employees.

The National Labor Relations Board found that First Student, formerly Ryder Student Transportation Services, participated in illegal conduct in a 1999 union election. The NLRB ordered a new election for April 18-19.

"There's definitely an atmosphere where workers feel intimidated," said the Rev. Steve Benson of Bethany Lutheran Church. "We need an atmosphere that feels free and open and safe for everyone to express their opinions and to be heard."

Service Employees International Union Local 284, which hopes to represent the workers, said management tactics include captive audience meetings, misleading mailings to drivers' homes, and one-on-one interrogations by supervisors.

Benson and other members of the Twin Cities Religion/Labor Network went to First Student headquarters in St. Paul March 29 to try to meet with managers, but no managers were there, they were told. So they presented a copy of their "Election Ground Rules" to a secretary.

The Ground Rules, which have been signed by Local 284 Executive Director Shane Allers, call for both sides to refrain from disparaging comments about the other party and provide for a union representative to attend company meetings where the unionization effort is discussed.

"They are so reasonable I can't believe why anyone would not want to sign them," said Bob Hulteen, staff member for the Religion/Labor Network.

First Student employees said they were encouraged by the support shown by the clergy.

"It's nice to have them here," said Tom Greene, a bus driver with the company for 10 years. Job security and improved health and welfare benefits are key issues in the organizing effort, he said.

"Driving a bus is not just a 'between-jobs' job," he said. "We want to upgrade it to a real career."

First Student has nine terminals in the Twin Cities area and transports students for a dozen local school districts, including St. Paul, Mounds View, North St. Paul/Maplewood, St. Anthony/New Brighton, and Minneapolis.