Greenwich School Bus Contract Approved, 113 to 4
MONDAY, JANUARY 7 -- Members at Student Transportation of America, Inc. (STA Greenwich) have approved their new union contract by a margin of 113 to 4. The agreement for the school bus company was reached on Nov. 15 of last year, with Local 100 President Tony Utano joining the talks in the final hours to conclude the agreement. It features annual wage increases, important new guarantees on daily and weekly pay, and a host of benefit improvements. It increases pay by 3 percent in each year of the 5-year package, and the first increase is retroactive to July 1, 2018. The compounding factor brings the actual total increase to nearly 16 percent.
In addition, Drivers and Monitors will now be paid their weekly picked run hours from the first scheduled day of school to the last actual day of school including all intervening school holidays, closures, scheduled or unscheduled vacations, unless the employee absents him/herself from work. The daily hourly guarantee goes from 5 hours per day to 5.3 hours per day (26.5 per week) in the 4th year of the agreement, and to 5.5 hours a day (27.5 weekly) in the 5th year of the contract. Currently, Drivers earn $29.16 per hour and Monitors earn $17.00 per hour. For the eight Spare Drivers and Monitors (a picked job), there will be an immediate increase in the guaranteed minimum hours to 7 hours per day or 35 hours per week.
The negotiating committee won increases in the Life Insurance Benefit for all employees, regardless of service time; a hike in the company matching contribution to a worker’s 401(k) plan, and an increase in the employer cap to both single and dependent health care coverage. Finally, the committee scored wins on years-of-service bonuses for all workers, and safety bonuses for Monitors.