Aberdeen School bus driver Gloria Day, of Local 275, who retires September 3, ensures special needs student Rosaliea Holman is safetly buckled in for her ride home.

Job and union are retiring bus driver's passion

FOR GLORIA DAY, retiring on September 30 was bittersweet.

On the one hand, she is looking forward to doing all the things she never had time to do while working, such as taking in shows, eating out more often, or undertaking three-day backpacking trips.

But, after 32 years on the job, she says she will have a hard time giving up her position as a bus driver for the Aberdeen School District as well as her work for Council 2 as a union member and officer of Local 275 in Grays Harbor.

Both the job and the union have been her passion.

“I knew from the start it was a job I would retire from,” she says. “I loved the kids and every part of it.

“And I just loved being a representative of the union, which I became after only two years on the job.

“It is so rewarding making the jobs of your fellow workers a little easier and helping them, for example, to get improved benefits.

“There is not a better union than Council 2.”

The feeling, you could say, is mutual.

The children she drove when they were toting lunch boxes still remember her now that they are putting their own kids on the bus. And she occupies an exceptional place in the hearts of the special needs children she has been driving for the last five years.

Council 2 will miss her, too.

“She always gave 150 percent to her job and to the union,” says Kathy Brown, staff representative in Olympia.

“I will miss her and her dedication to the union where she was an active and valuable member.”

Understandably, Day still wants to be involved in union activities when she can help. “I hope to continue to be involved from time to time,” she says. “I will be available any time they need me.”

Asked whether she has any advice for younger people in the union, Day suggests they remember that they will not always be at the bottom, but one day will have seniority and will be at the top with a better quality job and benefits through the union contracts.

“People sometimes want a 40-hour week, overtime and benefits that others have worked their way toward over the years. You need to remember you will reach that position one day.”

Day certainly reached that position and now, as a new school year starts, she moves on to a new phase of her life.

All those she has touched through Council 2 will wish her a great retirement as a reward for a job well done.