FORT VALLEY, Ga. — Blue Bird workers have voted to unionize.
697 people voted to create their own union and 435 people voted against it, according to a spokeswoman for the United Steelworkers Union (USW), which worked with Blue Bird workers on setting up the election.
The vote took two days.
More than 2,400 people work at the bus factory, making it Peach County's largest employer.
Workers tell 13WMAZ they have complaints about health, safety, and pay.
The company denies many of those complaints and says they want to maintain the current worker-management relationship without outside interference.
The company has seven days to file an objection. Then, the National Labor Relations Bureau would certify and start negotiating a union contract.
So far, there's no timeline for when that would happen.
Previously, Blue Bird Spokeswoman Julianne Barclay wrote to 13WMAZ about the then-upcoming vote, saying, "We believe that leadership and team members talking directly with one another is the best way to create a positive work environment and achieve our goals of quality, productivity and increased opportunity and rewards for every team member. Although we respect and support the right for employees to choose, we do not believe that Blue Bird is better served by injecting a labor union into our relationship with employees.”
13WMAZ has reached out to the company spokeswoman about Friday's vote, but so far, she has not responded.