Tentative Agreement Reached in Laidlaw Dispute Teamsters Local 206 After a year and a half, Laidlaw Transit finally agreed to a fair contract with their drivers and mechanic who provide home-to-school bus service to the Bethel school district. Ron Teninty, Union Representative for Teamsters Local 206, said that the Union and Laidlaw reached a tentative agreement as of 8/20 which provides significant increases in wages, job security and dignity and respect on the job. Drivers who had been hired at Oregon's minimum wage will now start at $7.75 per hour. Veteran drivers will make over $10.00 per hour. Employees will also have increased job security because Laidlaw will provide opportunity for work by seniority and discipline can be challenged with any dispute resolved by an arbitrator. During the campaign for fair treatment, the drivers gained the support of the school board. The board voted to protect the driver and mechanic wages and benefits from the bidding process when the bus service work periodically goes out to bid. Previously, when the school district put the transportation work out to bid, a new bidder would get the contract by underbidding the existing contractor. The competitor was often successful because they would hire new drivers at the minimum wage, forcing existing drivers to start over again if they wanted to keep their jobs. The school board voted to make the employees' wages and benefits part of the bid specifications, so any competitor would be required to maintain the wages and benefits existing at the time of the bid. The new contract and the school board's actions should reduce turnover and provide greater stability to the children who ride the bus. During the campaign for a fair contract, many parents attended school board meetings and complained about the high turnover and low morale. Drivers canvassed the Bethel school district, educating parents, teachers and the general community about their battle for a fair contract. Support multiplied, eventually bringing over 80 parents and community activists to school board meetings to support the drivers and convince the school board that they were, in part, responsible for the problems with Laidlaw. The Union also successfully convinced the National Labor Relations Board that Laidlaw was violating the law by refusing to bargain in good faith and discriminating against union supporters. Laidlaw agreed to settle some of the charges by posting a notice at the workplace promising not to violate the law again, recognize the Union as the bargaining representative for another year, promised to meet at least four times a month for at least four hours at each meeting and provide the Union with information needed to conduct constructive bargaining. In an extremely unusual part of the settlement, Laidlaw agreed to allow the Labor Board to go directly to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on contempt charges if Laidlaw violated the settlement with the Board. In the meantime, the Amalgamated Transit Union is still fighting for a fair contract in Corvallis. Laidlaw is the contractor providing both transit and school bus service to the community. The Union has been fighting with Laidlaw for over a year in Corvallis also. As part of their campaign, the Union has sponsored a ballot initiative to provide a minimum wage for bus drivers. (for further information, contact Ron Teninty: ronibt@igc.org