New Haven Independent

The fate of the city’s school-bus contract made for a lively meeting of the Board of Aldermen’s Finance Committee, which eventually decided not to make a decision.

Since the Finance Committee finished work last week on the upcoming year’s budget and sent it on to the full Board of Aldermen for action, the meeting Wednesday night was sparsely attended. It focused mainly on what the Finance Committee should do about renewing First Student’s five-year, $73 million contract to transport most of the 17,200 enrolled students who need bus transportation to school. Meanwhile, the union contract between SEIU and the company expires at the end of June.

About 20 members of the bus drivers’ union, SEIU, filed into the back of the aldermanic chambers as that agenda item was called.

Aldermanic President Carl Goldfield said, “If we sign this contract and we end up with a labor dispute, and if there’s a strike, then basically we would have signed a contract with a company that would tell us, ‘Sorry, our drivers are on strike so we can’t pick up your kids.’”

Teddi Barra, transportation facilitator for the Board of Ed, assured Goldfield the contract includes a performance bond that would cover the city’s expense for hiring another company in case of a strike.

Easier said than done — finding 286 qualified drivers who would have to learn all the bus routes in the city.

SEIU organizer Rick Melitta (pictured) addressed the committee members and asked them to put renewal of the contract on hold as a way to pressure the company to negotiate another labor contract with the drivers.

Finance Committee members said they hoped the union and the company would reach a fair contract agreement, but didn’t want to be stuck in the middle.

Alderwoman Dolores Colón, a union activist herself, said settling the contract would be good for the drivers and for New Haven students. “Our kids need drivers who are alert, not worried about health care, feeding their kids and making sure the rent is paid,” she said, “so we don’t need drivers who have issues on their heads.”

Melitta said the current contract provides a livable wage, but is not a great deal for the workers. The drivers have no sick days and can’t afford health insurance, something negotiating team member Edna Morales said they are hoping to change in the new contract. She also downplayed any concerns about a strike. Click here to listen.

Colón said that when the bus drivers were negotiating their first contract, there was a similar situation. She and several other members of the board sent a strong letter to the company telling them “that many of our constituents relied on good wages and good benefits, and we urged them to settle their labor issues quickly before we signed the contract.” She urged a similar letter this time.

After the issue was discussed in the meeting, union members caucused outside the aldermanic chambers. But outdoors, in front of City Hall, longtime school bus driver Alex Rivera (pictured at the top of this story) was not feeling the brotherly love. He said the union hadn’t come through for him and his fellow drivers. “We work just as hard as a teacher does, and we get none of the benefits,” he fumed. “We don’t have the kids as long as the teachers,” he continued, “but it’s our responsibility to keep them safe, and that should be worth something.” He added, “We want medical benefits. I make too much for Title XIX [health benefits], but I make too little to afford to buy health insurance.”

After the meeting, committee chair Sergio Rodriguez said, “We decided to turn it back to the Board of Aldermen with no recommendation, and then we’re going to send a letter to the union and the bus company urging them to get together and make every effort to resolve the situation.”

Earlier in the meeting, mayoral staffer Che Dawson presented a proposal for a Youth Department, which he would head. It would include the Mayor’s Youth Initiative, Teen Pregnancy Prevention, the Youth Service Bureau, uninsured children, Youth at Work and the substance abuse prevention program, BABES. The proposal raised concern among some aldermen, including Andrea Jackson Brooks (pictured on the right, with Dolores Colón on the left). Jackson Brooks said there could be overlapping initiatives by the new body, the aldermanic Youth Committee, and other youth-serving groups in the city. Alderman Yusuf Shah asked if Dawson had thought of renaming the Mayor’s Youth Initiative the “City of New Haven Youth Initiative” to make it more inclusive. Dawson said that hadn’t come up, but he would take the idea back to the mayor. He said there would be no change up or down in the budget for youth programs, just moving several positions between departments.

Finance Committee chair Sergio Rodriguez asked Dawson to come back with a schematic of the proposed organizational structure and how the new department would connect with other youth programs.

The rest of the meeting was taken up with school construction related items — repairing four roofs, as well as the expansion of Timothy Dwight School (all reported out favorable). Finally, the committee added an amendment regarding construction of a new technology and engineering magnet high school that would require the city to ask West Haven or the University of New Haven (in West Haven) to pick up the five percent of the cost of construction that won’t be covered by the state, rather than have New Haven cover it.