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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 18, 2011)
Troubles continue with First Student Bus drivers at Portland Public Schools ink new deal B Y DON M C INTOSH A SSOCIATE E DITOR School bus drivers at Portland Pub- lic Schools have a new union contract — 14 months after their old one ex- pired. The settlement, with bus con- tractor First Student, came three weeks after an Oct. 3 strike vote by the 220- worker bargaining unit. The drivers are members of Portland-based Amalga- mated Transit Union Local 757. But the agreement is likely to be a temporary peace, said Anna Tompte, a member of the Local 757 Executive Board. Tompte — who drives students at Hayhurst, Rieke, and Robert Gray schools — will soon be back negotiat- ing with First Student. The new con- tract expires in less than 10 months. And bargaining begins Jan. 26 for a separate contract covering bus me- chanics. First Student is a division of First Group, a multi-national transit indus- try contractor based in the United Kingdom. Even as Portland Public Schools bus drivers settle for now, their fellow Local 757 members have authorized a strike at First Transit, which has a con- tract with TriMet to drive the vans that transport the disabled. First Transit is a PAGE 8 separate division of First Group, but uses the same negotiators. And all around the Portland metro area, units of First Student have their own fights with the company. Three groups of workers represented by Ore- gon School Employees Association (OSEA) are waiting for a federal judge’s decision in a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) case that has been under way since mid-2010. In its investigation, the NLRB found that First Student repeatedly violated fed- eral labor law and failed to bargain in good faith with OSEA-represented school bus drivers at the Gresham-Bar- low, Lake Oswego, and Molalla school districts — canceling wage increases, attendance bonuses, and matching con- tributions; canceling meetings and re- fusing to meet with union bargaining teams; refusing to answer basic ques- tions necessary to bargain; and refus- ing to negotiate wages, benefits and economic issues until all non-eco- nomic issues had been agreed to. As a for-profit enterprise, First Stu- dent makes money when it limits worker pay — and maintenance costs. Drivers interviewed by the Labor Press complained at length about problems with the buses they’re given to drive — “They send us out there with buses that are marginal,” says First Transit school bus driver Joe Clyde. Clyde, who drives students at Lincoln High School, used to work as an aircraft mechanic at United Air Lines and at Horizon. Above, he uses a tire gauge to show wear on the rear tires at the bus yard at 6755 NE Columbia Blvd. Under a new six-year contract with the district, however, First Student will bring in new buses next year and retire old ones. frequent breakdowns, bald tires, broken two-way radios. Don Morrison, who drives students at Vestal, Whitman, and Sellwood schools, says he didn’t have NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS an antenna for nine months, so when dispatch wanted to communicate about a lost child, they were unable to reach him. Many of the buses were purchased in 1997, and have outlived their 10-year life expectancy. Tompte says there were 25 buses per mechanic when she started in 1993 and that today there are 50 buses per mechanic. Many of those complaints are likely to be remedied, however, said Portland Public Schools transportation services director Andy Leibenguth. That’s be- cause under the district’s new six-year, $69-million contract with First Stu- dent, the company will be moderniz- ing its school bus fleet next year. For now, Tompte said drivers at Portland Public Schools are happy with the new contract. The vote to rat- ify was unanimous, once 30 workers who voted “no” changed their votes. Two 2.5 percent raises bring the start- ing wage up to $13.22, and the top rate (reached after six years) to $15.76 — for most work. Because the two-year contract is retroactive to Sept. 1, 2010, most drivers will get a back pay check of around $500. Workers also got some protection against increased insurance premiums: First Student agreed to ab- sorb all premium increases up to 12 percent, and split 50-50 any increase above that. “We walked away with 80 percent of what we asked for,” Tompte said. NOVEMBER 18, 2011
