**Georgetown GUTS Drivers Secure Job Security After Months of Advocacy**
Georgetown University Transportation Shuttle (GUTS) drivers have received written confirmation from the university that they will remain Georgetown employees, if they choose. The victory, announced on Instagram on Dec. 16, came after months of organized efforts from drivers and the Georgetown Coalition for Workers’s Rights (GCWR), who rallied student and community support through protests and petitions.
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### Background: Proposed Outsourcing Threatened Drivers’ Jobs
In mid-July, GUTS’s 18 university-employed bus drivers were informed that Georgetown planned to terminate their contracts and outsource operations to third-party provider Abe’s Transportation. This cost-cutting move would have eliminated all permanent GUTS bus driver positions, requiring current drivers to either transfer to Abe’s or move to an alternative facilities department. According to GCWR, the latter option would entail reduced pay and limited benefits.
A university spokesperson wrote to *The Voice* that there are ongoing discussions with Abe’s Transportation to accommodate the drivers. While Abe’s will take over management, infrastructure, and equipment for the GUTS shuttle program, drivers have been given the option to remain Georgetown University employees.
> “Any current bus driver who wishes to remain a direct employee of the University in the capacity of a GUTS bus driver will continue with their current job duties as a Georgetown University employee driving for the selected University subcontracted vendor,” a university spokesperson wrote. “The vendor has agreed to offer employment to any GUTS bus driver who wishes to voluntarily be hired as a direct employee of the vendor. The University anticipates executing a service agreement with the vendor, effective January 31, 2026.”
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### Student-Worker Solidarity Yields Results
The decision follows months of persistent advocacy from the “Don’t Cut GUTS” campaign launched by GCWR in September. The campaign kicked off with a campus protest and a petition—signed by over 1,000 students and community members—delivered to Interim President Robert Groves, urging the university not to pursue a contract with Abe’s Transportation.
Fiona Naughton (SFS ’26), a member of GCWR, reflected on the campaign’s momentum:
> “Over the past five months, we have gotten to know the drivers personally and learned more about what an important and essential job they play at Georgetown. This university quite frankly could not function without them. This was truly a joint campaign, with complete and total solidarity between the workers and the rest of the Georgetown community, and this victory is a testament to the power of the people united.”
Student and driver efforts also led to an Oct. 23 meeting, where Georgetown’s Advisory Committee on Business Practices (ACBP) unanimously passed a resolution recommending all GUTS drivers remain university employees. Despite subsequent deadlines and demands—such as a Nov. 5 letter delivered to Chief Operating Officer David Green—university leadership initially remained unresponsive. This prompted a Dec. 2 sit-in at the President’s Office in Healy Hall.
Finally, Green’s office sent a written assurance to the GUTS drivers:
> “At this time, I am writing to confirm that any current bus driver who wishes to remain a direct employee of the University in the capacity of a GUTS bus driver will continue with their current job duties as a Georgetown University employee driving for the selected University subcontracted vendor,” Green wrote, as shared on GCWR’s Instagram.
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### Reactions and Ongoing Accountability
Elinor Clark (CAS ’27), a GCWR member, expressed relief that drivers received this assurance before winter break:
> “This campaign has been going on since the summer, and it’s really exciting to know that going into the holiday season, the bus drivers know that their jobs are secure. The bus drivers fought so hard for this, and we are all so relieved and happy that Georgetown has finally committed to doing the right thing.”
Despite the campaign’s success, GCWR members believe Georgetown should answer for its conduct during the negotiations. Naughton highlighted concerns:
> “The university loves to claim credit for worker-student activism, but let the record show that the administration brought police drivers to monitor meetings with the bus drivers and did not consult them whatsoever in making the initial outsourcing decision. Because people paid attention to the workers on campus, because the GUTS drivers’s commitment and effort was brought to the surface, people finally paid attention to the essential nature of Georgetown workers.”
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### Next Steps: Continued Student and Worker Advocacy Needed
With this victory secured, attention now turns to upcoming contract negotiations for unionized facilities workers, which include GUTS drivers. Clark emphasized the need for continued community involvement as workers enter new contract talks in the spring:
> “As facilities workers move into contract renegotiations next semester, we’re hoping that the Georgetown community stays involved, stays motivated, and stays energized to continue to hold Georgetown accountable to its Jesuit values of protecting workers. We also have an opportunity here to revisit some of these protections that Georgetown already has in place, making sure that accountability systems and language are comprehensive enough to ensure that something like this doesn’t happen again.”
Naughton also noted that Georgetown has not yet finalized its service agreement with Abe’s Transportation, making ongoing advocacy critical:
> “We have to remain vigilant and attentive to what workers are going through on Georgetown’s campus, which means that our fight doesn’t just end with this victory. It must continue, and we must highlight all injustices happening on campus if we wish to truly support facilities workers as they renegotiate their contracts.”
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**In Summary:**
The decision to allow GUTS drivers to remain university employees is a major win for campus workers and their allies. As negotiations and oversight continue, students and community members remain committed to holding Georgetown accountable and ensuring worker protections into the future.
https://georgetownvoice.com/2025/12/17/guts-drivers-will-remain-georgetown-university-employees-after-months-long-campaign/
