Editor's note: As we go to press with this issue, drivers have returned to work. Story, A1.
BRATTLEBORO-Here's some important context to keep in mind with regard to the school bus debacle.
Last year Whitsons, a New York company backed by private equity firm GenNx360 Capital Partners, purchased the local food service company Fresh Picks, which served most of the schools in WSESU.
Immediately, the quality of the food started to decline, and there were issues with the quantity of food as well - sometimes they would run out of items before all kids had even been served. Kids were throwing away more food than ever because it was so unappetizing.
This company was more concerned with maximizing profits and minimizing costs than they were with providing essential nutrition to schoolchildren. Things got so bad that the supervisory union declared a breach of contract and moved forward to create their own in-house food service system.
Now Whitsons is buying up more food-service providers around the state.
In 2022, Beacon Mobility, a 25-state transportation company backed by private equity firm Audax, purchased local bus service provider F.M. Kuzmekus. Soon after, they started having payroll shortfalls, leaving employees without pay for work they had already done, and also failing to pay for their obligations to health insurance and retirement plans.
The employee union has been complaining about this for many months and all the company has done is lock them out of work and bring in scab workers from other states, paying them higher rates and swallowing the cost of temporarily housing them here as well.
Meanwhile the scab workers are violating traffic laws and leaving stops without picking up the children who depend on these buses to get to and from school.
The level of service is definitely poor enough to constitute a breach of contract, and the company is not working in good faith to resolve their contract dispute, ignoring a fair offer on the table from the union, and accusing the picketing workers of breaking the law - an accusation that was refuted by local police officers who observed the picket lines.
Who benefits from all these private equity purchases of local companies? Who suffers?
Robin Morgan
Brattleboro
Editor's note: As we go to press with this issue, drivers have returned to work. Story, A1.
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