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Divvy Workers Move To Unionize, Seek Pay Raises

By Ted Cox | October 31, 2014 11:11am
 Divvy workers Kevin Payton and Tamal Wood load bikes into the back of a van at the Division Street and Damen Avenue station in Wicker Park.
Divvy workers Kevin Payton and Tamal Wood load bikes into the back of a van at the Division Street and Damen Avenue station in Wicker Park.
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DNAinfo/Alisa Hauser

CITY HALL — Workers charged with keeping the Divvy bike-sharing system rolling have filed formal paperwork to form a union.

"They've been dangling pay raises in front of us, but never coming through with them," said Nicole Cipri, who has worked as a part-time mechanic and bike checker at Divvy since the system's launch last year.

"After more than a year of working there, they gave me a 30-cent raise. Then I was told I wasn't getting a larger raise because Alta workers in New York had unionized."

According to Cipri, about 55 percent of Divvy workers signed cards asking to be represented by the Transport Workers Union, which already represents workers with New York City's Citibike system, owned by Divvy operator Alta Bicycle Share. Most Divvy workers, she added, are part-time or seasonal employees without benefits.

Alta bike-sharing employees also have asked to unionize in Boston and Washington, D.C., but so far only Citibike has voluntary agreed to recognize the union, thus avoiding an NLRB election.

Cipri said Divvy workers hoped for a similar result, but Divvy management rejected their union petition Wednesday.

"If it comes down to an election, I don't doubt we'll win," Cipri said. "But voluntarily recognizing us, like they did in New York, would mean a lot. Management knows this is what we want, and they've repeatedly said that they're 'here to listen.' We'll see how much they mean that, I guess."

"The majority of us feel like forming a union would provide the support we need to keep improving the system for the benefit of our customers," said Caleb Usry, a Divvy rebalancer.

Divvy is owned by the city's Department of Transportation, but operated by Alta. CDOT and the Mayor's Press Office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

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