School Bus Drivers Vote to OK Strike

Hundreds of school bus drivers have voted to go on strike if an agreement cannot be reached between their union and the company that contracts its services to the Los Angeles Unified School District, officials said Wednesday.

Union officials said members of Teamsters Local 572 overwhelmingly authorized a strike Tuesday, allowing negotiators to call for such action if a settlement cannot be reached with Laidlaw, the company that provides the school district with about 25% of its buses.

The union will wait a week for the company to offer a new agreement before employees walk off the job, said Jim Gualtiere, negotiator for Local 572.

“If we don’t hear anything from the employer in about a week or so, and we have the strike sanctioned (by union officials), then we’ll go ahead and take the action,” Gualtiere said.

But Laidlaw officials said that their latest offer to the union was not final, and that they are willing to continue working toward a contract settlement acceptable to both sides.

“We will be meeting to hopefully formulate another offer and discuss it with the union,” said Richard Loupee, director of human resources for Laidlaw. “I don’t think we’re that far apart in what we’re offering and what they’re offering.”

Laidlaw, the largest bus operator in North America, provides the Los Angeles school district with about 600 drivers and one-fourth of its buses, according to Jim Murchie, director of Laidlaw’s financial operations. Half of the bus fleet consists of the districts’ vehicles and other contractors provide the remaining 25% of the buses.

“If (a strike) did go into effect, certainly we would be concerned about the ability to get students to their destinations,” district spokeswoman Diana Munatones said. “But we would find ways to cover for those bus drivers.” About 2,000 school buses transport about 84,000 children to and from schools throughout the district daily, Munatones said.

During contract negotiations, the primary point of contention has been wages, though concerns have also been raised about benefits, Gualtiere said.

The company is not offering an increase for inflation as it has in previous contracts, and is proposing wages ranging from $7.60 an hour for a new driver to $12.40 for a 10-year veteran, Gualtiere said. The union contends that most of the hourly wages should be 25 cents to 50 cents higher.

But Laidlaw officials said they have offered the employees a relatively healthy pay increase in light of the school district’s fiscal problems.