Tentative agreement reached with bus drivers
By KATE SCHOTT kschott@daily-chronicle.com
A tentative contract agreement has been reached between the company that provides transportation services for the DeKalb School District and local drivers, a spokeswoman for the busing company said late Wednesday night.
First Student, Inc. and local drivers – who are members of the Elgin-based Teamsters Local 330 – have been negotiating a contract for several months. On Oct. 28, members of Local 330 informed DeKalb district administrators that they may strike soon unless an agreement is reached. The district contracts with First Student for busing services, and was not involved in the negotiations.
First Student spokeswoman Maureen Richmond said that the union and the company reached a tentative agreement on Wednesday. She declined to release any details because the agreement still needs to be ratified at a meeting of union members, which she said is scheduled for next week.
The company was pleased to make the announcement, Richmond said during a phone interview shortly before 9 p.m. Wednesday.
Messages left late Wednesday for Arnold Graefen, a driver for the district and a member of the negotiating team, were not immediately returned.
"We are pleased that an agreement is appearing to be imminent," DeKalb Schools spokesman Russ Fletcher said. "We hope it can be ratified on both sides. We value the service that our drivers provide for our students, and we look forward to moving on to do what we need to do to help our students be successful."
The 103 local drivers and monitors voted in late February to join Teamsters Local 330, Graefen has previously said. They met with First Student monthly since July to negotiate their first contract.
They sat down with a federal mediator Oct. 28, but negotiations were not successful, according to both First Student and union representatives. Another negotiation session was held Wednesday.
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