05/21/2026
FIRST STUDENT TEAMSTERS RATIFY NATIONAL MASTER AGREEMENT
Teamsters at First Student have ratified a five-year contract, securing stronger protections, improved benefits, and safer working conditions impacting over 22,000 school bus workers across the country. The agreement was secured following a credible strike threat across 96 locals that would have impacted school bus routes nationwide.
“First Student Teamsters refused to settle for the status quo and fought for an agreement that delivers real improvements,” said Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien. “Our members were ready to act and hold this company accountable if they failed to deliver the deal workers more than deserved. This contract strengthens job protections, improves retirement security, and will continue to raise the bar for school bus workers everywhere.”
The new agreement includes improvements such as increased access to health care benefits, new minimum standards for retirement contributions that will provide pension contributions for the first time to more than 10,000 workers, and expanded leave protections. It also creates a standalone article governing video and audio technology on buses, including protections against misuse of data and requirements for future national negotiations over changes to camera systems.
The First Student National Master Agreement impacts over 17,000 Teamsters and 5,000 additional school bus workers nationwide. As First Student Teamsters practice picketed at bus yards across the country, the Teamsters First Student National Negotiating Committee reached a tentative agreement just hours before the contract expired on March 31.
