Quality Bus Members Approve Contract, 146-8

JUNE 23 -- TWU Local 100 School Bus Operators at Brooklyn-based Quality Transportation voted overwhelmingly to approve a new contract on Friday, June 23. The agreement, which runs from July 1, 2017 through June 30, 2020, and brings top pay for Drivers to $31 after nine years of service, was approved by a vote of 146 to 8. About 220 Drivers work for the company.

Other contract provisions include a higher 401(k) from the employer, the granting of a paid emergency leave day in addition to existing vacation days and holidays, and a yearly safety bonus for no accidents. Another provision in the new contract gives employees five days bereavement paid leave for the loss of an member of their immediate family. This recognizes that many Drivers, immigrants to the US, have family abroad.

Local 100 School Bus Division Chair Gus Moghrabi, who headed up the union negotiating team, MOW Vice President Tony Utano and MOW LES Chair John Chiarello, and Director of Organizing Frank McCann were among the union officials who visited on the day of the vote.