Seattle School District bus drivers avert strike, ratify new contract
Mar 3, 2014, 2:49 PM | Updated: 2:54 pm
(AP)
(AP)
Parents in the Seattle School District no longer have to worry about getting their kids to and from school after bus drivers officially ratified a new contract over the weekend.
The drivers were seeking their first contract after forming a union last year. They had voted previously to authorize a strike against First Student, the company that contracts with the district to provide bus service. The drivers had complained about what they called inadequate and prohibitively expensive health care costs.
The 450 drivers ratified the contract by 73 percent, according to Teamsters Local 174.
Terms of the contract were not made available.
“Although this new contract is not perfect” said Local 174 Secretary-Treasurer, Rick Hicks, “the Union was able to address the members concerns about health care, wage increases and the company’s current PTO (personal time off) Policy”.
The contract runs through July, 2016.
