Bus drivers say they want parity in wages
By KATE SCHOTT kschott@daily-chronicle.com
DeKALB – A representative of the bus drivers for the DeKalb School District – who have said they might strike if contract negotiations continue to fail – said Friday that all union members want is to make enough money to support their families.
Representatives from Teamsters Local 330 told district officials late Wednesday night that DeKalb school bus drivers couldn't guarantee service after Thursday unless an agreement is reached with First Student Inc. The drivers have provided transportation both Thursday and Friday. The district contracts with First Student to provide busing services, and is not involved in the negotiations.
First Student spokeswoman Maureen Richmond said Thursday that the company has offered a more than 20 percent wage increase during the next four years. The union has asked for a 47 percent increase during the next four years, Richmond said, with more than half of that in the first year.
But Arnold Graefen, a driver for the district and a member of the negotiating team, said Friday that they are not asking for that large of an increase. DeKalb drivers currently start at $10 an hour, he said, and bus monitors at $8 an hour. The union would like drivers to start at $12 an hour and monitors at $10 an hour, he said.
"They keep saying we are part time, and yes we are because we don't work eight hours a day," Graefen said. "But we can't get another job, because we have to work in both the morning and afternoon. This is our income."
The increased wages would match those being earned by First Student drivers in other Illinois communities, he said, including those in Batavia, Naperville, Oswego and Villa Park. Drivers also would like a couple of sick days a year and the guarantee of 2.5 hours of work in the morning and 2.5 in the afternoon, Graefen said.
"I would like them to know that all we are asking for is parity," Graefsen said when asked what message he would like to give to the community. "It would get members off food stamps. All we want is a decent wage to live on, and not have to go to the state of Illinois so they can survive."
The union – which has 103 local drivers and monitors – voted in late February to join the Elgin-based Teamsters Local 330. They immediately asked to meet with First Student to discuss a contract, Graefen said. The first meeting did not happen until July and "very little was accomplished" during two days of talks, he said.
The next meetings were in the middle of August and then the end of September, he said. They sat down with a federal mediator on Wednesday, but Graefen said First Student walked out of those talks despite being told by the mediator that they couldn't.
Richmond said Friday that she would need to confirm whether First Student representatives walked out of negotiations Wednesday. She reiterated the company's stance that the union was asking for a 47 percent wage increase.
Schools in the DeKalb district will remain in session even if the drivers with the busing company the district uses vote to strike. The district is working in a number of ways to provide replacement transportation service, DeKalb Schools spokesman Russ Fletcher said, by working with First Student or utilizing other bus companies.
The district is asking parents to ensure that their children are on the bus prior to leaving a child unattended at a bus stop. If bus service is not available, parents should plan for alternative transportation or carpooling with neighbors, according to a written statement from the district.
The district is working to ensure bus coverage for as many routes as possible, Fletcher said, adding that students with specialized transportation plans should know that they will be picked up by a different driver and bus company than they are used to.
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