New Haven Independent

According to Charles Fabian, staff representative for the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the main features of the settlement are salary increases that average 6.6% percent over each of the five years of the contract, and the provision of health plans that are more affordable. The high cost of the health care was a primary issue for the drivers. The system employs 270 drivers to shuttle 17,000 kids to and from public school each day.

Although these new plans are cheaper, Fabian added, “they are not as comprehensive as the previous ones, and the hospitalization benefit is very low.” Fabian said the negotiating committee also asked for sick days for the drivers, who are almost all part-time workers, but that was denied. Currently, he said, there are no paid sick or personal days except for a death in the family.

Therefore, he said, the negotiating committee was neutral about the final offer put before the membership, recommending neither approval nor rejection. “The members voted to approve,” he said, “and that’s it.”

Stacy Bobzean, the contract manager with First Student, said he was thrilled with the outcome, and his impression is that the drivers are happy with the hourly increases and other benefits.

Currently the aveage wage per driver is $14 per hour and the average work days is 6.7 hours per driver during the school year; thus, an average salary, based on a 180 day year, of $17,000. The last wage increase was in July, 2006

The contract ran out June 30. After union appeals for intervention, the mayor appointed appointed Will Clark, the Board of Ed’s new chief operating officer (pictured on the right, with BOE member Richard Abbatiello), as a mediator between the two sides. The soft-spoken lawyer likes to get things done without a lot of noise, behind the scenes. He was assisted in the last three sessions by a state-appointed negotiator. Clark said he was pleased with what he termed salary and medical benefit gains in the final pact. He was most pleased that both sides didn’t hit the streets, but instead kept working these last three months while they talked.

“It’s a credit to both sides,” he said, “that they stuck to the mediation procedures.” In other words, a quiet success story.

The contract runs between July 2007 to June 2012.