Georgetown’s Advisory Committee on Business Practices (ACBP) voted unanimously in favor of passing a resolution to Chief Operating Officer (COO) David Green recommending all 18 Georgetown University Transportation Shuttle (GUTS) drivers remain permanent employees of the university during an Oct. 23 meeting.
The ACBP is a committee formed to analyze, evaluate, and offer advice to the university’s Senior Adviser to the President and Vice President for Public Affairs on ethical issues related to staff labor policy and university-hired vendors. The committee does not have legislative powers.
The committee is composed of nine voting and two non-voting members, including students, faculty, and administrative representatives.
While the resolution is non-binding, members of the Georgetown Coalition for Workers Rights (GCWR), a student organization that advocates for labor rights at Georgetown and the greater D.C. community, hope the symbolic weight of this decision will influence legislative action.
“Yesterday’s ACBP board decision was significant in so many ways, but primarily in that it indicates that campus activism works,” Fiona Naughton (SFS ’26), an ACBP undergraduate student representative and member of GCWR, said. “The fact that so many administrators voted in favor of this resolution is an indication that they are listening to the wills of the drivers and the demands of the student body.”
In July, the university informed GUTS bus drivers that it planned to subcontract GUTS buses and outsource drivers from the third-party company Abe’s Transportation. The administration claims this was a financial decision made in response to December 2023 D.C. regulations, regarding sustainable transportation. However, these regulations will not be enforced until 2045.
The transition would eliminate all permanent GUTS bus driver positions, requiring current drivers to transfer to Abe’s or an alternative facilities department. The latter would reduce their pay and limit their access to benefits, according to GCWR.
In response, GCWR launched its “Don’t Cut GUTS” campaign in September. It has hosted meetings, canvasses, solidarity concerts, and protests to cultivate student support and demand that the university keep all GUTS bus drivers as permanent Georgetown employees.
“It’s so important that we take every opportunity to build community with one another and leverage our collective power,” Naughton said.
On Thursday, Naughton and her fellow ACBP student representative and member of GCWR Clint Corkran (SFS ’28) brought a written recommendation to the ACBP board, urging the university to prioritize the “dignity and continued employment” of the GUTS drivers.
“I think it’s become clear to the community here, that these people are more than just drivers, that they are our connection to the outside world and that they’re one of the pillars of Georgetown’s identity,” Corkran said. “It should be their right to decide if they want to remain as direct employees of Georgetown because of everything that they’ve given and because of everything that they mean to us and everything we mean to them.”
Instead of opposing a deal with the third-party company entirely, Corkran and Naughton asked as ACBP student representatives that every GUTS driver be consulted before being subcontracted, and if they decline, have the opportunity to retain their current position.
“We realized that the situation on the ground was such that it was financially non-feasible for Georgetown to buy these buses themselves. We have no qualms with them working out a deal with Abe’s [Transportation] so that they can have electric buses to meet D.C.’s emission requirements,” Corkran said. “We said that Georgetown needs to keep its 18 GUTS bus drivers in their capacity, as direct employees of Georgetown University.”
Corkran shared his elation when an edited version of his recommendation passed, which the head of the ACBP and Associate Vice President for Public Affairs and Business Policy at Georgetown, Cal Watson, sent to Green.
“We went in there thinking that we could squeeze this through and we left with a 9-0 unanimous vote in favor of our amendment,” Corkran said. “That was really reassuring, that it felt like everyone in the room really knew that this was something important.”
A university spokesperson informed the Voice that the administration has received the recommendation and that “work is underway to consider the path forward.”
“The University has not made a final decision at this time,” a university spokesperson wrote. “Georgetown is committed to upholding the Just Employment Policy throughout this process. Georgetown will also continue to honor the collective bargaining agreement between the University and 1199SEIU, the union that represents GUTS drivers. The University has had a long and respectful relationship with the union and looks forward to maintaining this relationship.”
The recommendation, while an exciting development for the campaign, does not guarantee continued university employment for GUTS drivers. Corkran said that keeping the recommendation relevant in the minds of students and staff is the key to a binding resolution.
“Our wish is that [Green] observes it completely. That is our job to give our advice,” Corkran said. “I think that it’s pretty important that when the COO is making decisions, they listen to the advisory committee that focuses on labor rights and just employment practices.”
Naughton echoed the importance of remaining diligent.
“We have no right to lose hope or stop fighting because the GUTS drivers have never once lost hope,” Naughton said. “They don’t have the ability to stop fighting because their livelihoods are on the line.”
Naughton hopes that by building connections with GUTS drivers, students may better understand their struggle and be more impassioned to fight for change.
“That is the power of creating deep and meaningful relationships with workers on campus,” said Naughton.
Outside of the ACBP meeting, about 20 students from GCWR’s GUTS campaign and three bus drivers waited silently with signs and banners of support. They also welcomed each ACBP member into Lauinger Library—where the meeting took place—to ensure that students and GUTS drivers were on their minds before voting.
“As soon as the student members of the committee came out and were smiling, we just felt a sense of relief,” Elinor Clark (CAS ’27), a student organizer of the GUTS campaign and Facilities Lead of GCWR, said. “This is a huge win for us, because now it’s clear that people within the administration at Georgetown see the harm that this decision would potentially cause.”
Following the ACBP meeting, GCWR hosted a panel with three GUTS bus drivers on Oct. 24. At the panel, GUTS drivers reflected on their histories with the university and the impact this potential decision would have on their livelihoods.
In addition to discussing the value of the GUTS program and their various roles within it, the drivers emphasized their love for the Georgetown community and their desire to continue to be a part of it.
“When I wake up in the morning, I want to come to Georgetown,” Michael Fleming, a GUTS driver of seven years, said. “I want to see you guys. There’s nothing like having a job that you like.”
