Seattle School Bus Drivers Ok Contract, End Strike

After a walkout that dragged on for more than three weeks, union school bus drivers voted Thursday to accept a contract from Laidlaw Transit Inc.

Teamsters Union Local 763 approved the agreement 137-88, a union spokeswoman said.

Service will be back to near-normal Monday, said Laidlaw spokesman Kevin Mest. The company, which transports 13,000 Seattle School District students, will dispatch just 34 of its 282 vehicles today.

“It’s too late to do any changes for tomorrow,” Mest said, but the company will rehearse today and over the weekend.

Based on the number of drivers voting on the contract, he said, Laidlaw will have 85 percent to 90 percent of its routes covered Monday.

Teamsters officials did not return calls immediately after the vote.

Seattle Public Schools Superintendent Bill Kendrick said he was pleased by the drivers’ decision to return to work.

“I want to thank our parents, students, staff and community who once again rallied behind the Seattle school system and worked diligently to fill in in a very difficult situation,” Kendrick said. “So, now, get the drivers back in the buses and get things moving on a regular basis so we can get back to focusing on our primary mission, that of educating youngsters in the some 100 schools in this district.”

The drivers walked out March 7 after working without a contract since September.

Talks with Toronto-based Laidlaw stalled over the union’s bid for a company-funded Teamster pension plan.

An agreement was worked out Wednesday, with assistance from federal mediator Norman Lee, after Kendrick said the district would consider terminating its contract with Laidlaw if the dispute was not resolved soon.

Mest said the agreement contains the company’s proposal to arrange for Individual Retirement Accounts, or IRAs, with contributions made through payroll deductions and direct deposit.

The provision calls for a one-time $100 company contribution for each employee, he said.

The agreement is a three-year contract - its duration also had been a matter of dispute.

The union also agreed to accept a zero-tolerance drug policy, Mest said. That is, employees who come forward to acknowledge a drug problem will be assisted in rehabilitation, but drug use detected in random tests will be cause for immediate dismissal.

Wage provisions, worked out before the strike, will boost top-scale pay from $12.75 an hour to $13.50 in the third year of the pact.