The Bus Strike is Over

Yesterday, the drivers went back to work but I didn't write anything on it as there were no details available on what bargaining results ended the New Milford bus strike. Today, the NewsTimes had this report up:

On Saturday, the school bus drivers voted 48-11 to accept a five-year contract with All-Star Transportation, which the drivers said is a compromise between what they wanted and what the company is willing to pay.

The offer increased the starting pay from $11.40 to $12.33 and top pay for those with at least 10 years of experience from $14.75 to $15.95.

The contract provides drivers a first-year increase of 4 percent and as much as 5.25 percent in the final year.

At the school district office, Thomas Corbett, director of operations, was relieved to report the resumption of bus service at all six schools Monday went smoothly.

Judging by the previous numbers discussed, the drivers and All Star Transportation met pretty much in the middle on this. Thankfully we will not have to worry about this for the next 5 years.

The traffic on the roads was pretty crazy during drop-off and pick-up times and made a mighty strong case for the usefulness of Mass Transit for those of us that had to drive through it everyday.