When Hallcon, a contractor that runs commuter shuttle buses for the tech industry, terminated a driver for falsification of records, the union fought back—and won!
Hallcon had fired a member for not showing up for work one day, but the union disputed that very fact. The company had stopped having members use the electronic timeclock during the pandemic, replacing that process with someone at the gate checking people in. The employee claimed they had arrived earlier than the gate person, which is why their presence was not recorded. While the company claims they phoned the driver twice, they never asked for the driver to come to see management.
“We fought this because the company claimed the driver falsified records, but there was literally nothing to falsify,” says Business Rep Tracy Kelley. “The contract says there should be a clear process of clocking in and out and it should be done by the employee, not by another person.”
The arbitration panel agreed with the union, and with that, the driver received a check for $33,000 to restore the wages, benefits, and 401K contributions they should have gotten all along. “The member took a job elsewhere, but this remains a good lesson for the employer,” says Kelley.
