UTU Local 1741 MEDIA ADVISORY - September 1st 1999

SF School Bus Driver Negotiations Stalled by Company Refusal to Bargain

San Francisco, CA, 911199 -- Just over 250 San Francisco school bus drivers, dispatchers, office workers, and service personnel -- all members of United Transportation Union (UTU) Local 1741 -- have been working without a contract since August 1st. Their employer, Laidlaw Transit, Inc., provides home-to-school and other transportation services to the San Francisco Unified School District. On Tuesday, August 31st, Laidlaw management abruptly broke off negotiations after refusing to continue bargaining in the presence of union members who had gathered to observe the talks.

Negotiations between UTU Local 1741 and Laidlaw management have been ongoing throughout the summer. Customarily contracts between Laidlaw and its employees have been settled by the time the Fall school term begins. That is not the case this year. While progress has been made on some important issues, the parties remain far apart on some critical problems, according to Susan Moorehead, UTU Local 1741 President and one of the union's negotiators.

Whatever differences remain, however, have been eclipsed by management's refusal to continue negotiations in the presence of off-duty union members. Throughout the summer, union members had attended every bargaining session to observe and to consult with their bargaining committee in caucuses. UTU Local 1741 has opened its negotiating sessions with Laidlaw to its members for every contract negotiated in the last 25 or more years. Management's sudden refusal to continue talks while members are present constitutes a major reversal of past practice.

Angered union members began informational picketing of the Laidlaw school bus yard at 2270 Jerrold Ave. in San Francisco on Wednesday morning after completing their morning delivery of children to their schools. The union's leadership said the picketing does not represent a work stoppage and no strike has been called, but warns that management's failure to continue bargaining constituted a major provocation to which union members will respond. Further demonstrations or other actions are likely. The union has called upon the parents, teachers, and other members of the public to pressure Laidlaw management to return to bargaining in good faith so that school bus services can continue uninterrupted. A federal mediator has joined the talks, however, no new bargaining sessions have been scheduled.

During the last contract a large number of school bus drivers lost 25% or more of their paid hours, resulting in an annual reduction of their income from $3500 to as much as $9000 as a result of changes in kindergarten scheduling and imposition of unpaid in-service days scheduled by the School District. Drivers charge that their full time jobs have been converted into part time contingent jobs that no longer generate incomes sufficient to meet the high cost of living in the Bay Area. According to the union, the average San Francisco school bus driver was paid for just 6.68 hours per day, although because of split shifts actual workdays can run from 10-12 or more hours when commute times and unpaid midday hours are factored in. Last year the typical driver earned between $23,000 and $25,000 for the 172-day regular school year plus paid holidays. Those who work summer school can earn an additional $2300.

Union members have sought to restore lost hours and income by raising the weekly guaranteed minimum hours and have offered greater scheduling flexibility in return. The union also proposed that Laidlaw increase available hours by more aggressively competing for charter and other extra work and that management restore a full time charter sales job which the company had eliminated. As of when management broke off negotiations, the company had rejected both proposals.

Employees were angered to recently discover that Laidlaw had opened a second transportation service in San Francisco within a mile of the Jerrold Ave (Click Here). operation which competes for work that has been performed by UTU members and is guaranteed to them by their contract. Local management claims the school bus business, recently renamed Laidlaw Education Services, and the other transportation company operated as Laidlaw Transportation Services are functionally separate companies, though both are owned by Laidlaw, Inc., the parent corporation based in Canada. In a government-run election in July, employees of the new company voted to be represented by Teamsters Local 665.

UTU Local Committee Chair Jim Harford notes that the vans operated by the new company do not meet the same stringent standards required by the Department of Transportation of school buses, and their drivers are not required to obtain tough certifications required of UTU members.

Drivers warn that continued erosion of their economic circumstances has forced many long-term highly experienced employees to quit because they can no longer get enough hours to support their families. Union members observe that it takes special skills to safely navigate the streets of San Francisco. As the opportunity for full time work declines, increased turnover will take its toll, resulting in drivers with less experience, shorter tenures, and lower commitment. UTU members have a long history of donating their labor to drive the children and other members of the San Francisco community to special events and activities.

Union members are also seeking wage parity and equity for office employees and dispatchers whose wages remain substantially lower than those of drivers. While management has offered some adjustments, proposed wages would keep incomes of these employees well below what is needed to properly support a family in the Bay Area. Laidlaw has demanded concessions from these workers in work rules and higher employee contributions for benefits.

Laidlaw, Inc. is the nation's largest school bus company, operating 39,000 buses in over 1100 school districts across the U.S. and Canada. Laidlaw recently acquired Greyhound Bus Company and also operates a sanitation company, a medi-van service, a number of municipal transit systems, and a medical services company. Last year, Laidlaw profits increased 32% on revenues that rose by 22%. Shareholder dividends increased 30% while equity grew by 11%. The top five corporate executives divided $11 million dollars in direct compensation over the last three years.