101802 Bus drivers displeased with contract

FELIX CARROLL   RECORD REVIEW

While teamsters officials spent the week attempting to rebuild the burnt bridges between themselves and Bedford Central's private bus drivers, several drivers this week said they see familiar devil in the details.

A bus contract agreement reached Last week between union officials and tire bus company, Baumann & Sons, is not much different from an offer the drivers rejected last month, drivers say.

"I'm voting no absolutely," said Tom Lerner, a driver from Mount Kisco.

This week, the drivers received the contract details in the mail. They also began receiving secret ballots with which to vote on the contract. The ballots will be opened and counted Oct. 25 by a federal mediator at the school district headquarters.

"We think we have an excellent agreement " said Roy Barnes, an attorney for the union, Local 456, who did the bargaining on the drivers' behalf, though without the drivers' consent, "and we think the drivers are going to adopt it."

In the meantime, the drivers of the 38-bus and 23-van fleet continue their efforts to break away from the union which they said has not acted on their behalf since contract negotiations began in June. Seventy of the 91 workers signed a petition to gel rid of the Teamsters.

The drivers are seeking other union representation.

Drivers were shut out by Teamsters in contract negotiations with Baumann after nearly all of the 91 drivers, bus monitors and mechanics led a two-day wildcat strike on Sept. 26 and 27.

In a letter received by the union workers this week, Bernard Doyle, president and business manager of Teamsters Union Local 456, pleaded with the Bedford Central workers to accept the contract.

"The past few  weeks have been very hard for all of us," he said, "and everyone has felt angry and frustrated over recent events. It is my hope that we can put the past behind us and move on.

"For many  weeks," He continued, ^"the union tried to negotiate a fair agreement for you, but we were continually blocked by some who had a secret deal with another union and didn't want an agreement at any cost The wildcat strike resulted .

The new agreement - which only goes into effect if the drivers approve it  contains some changes compared with Baumann's "Best offer"  made in late August.

Proposed salary Increases would remain the same, only rather than bus drivers reaching the proposed maximum hourly wage of $19.27 in five years, drivers could reach it in four years. The same schedule would go for van drivers and monitors, whose maximum hourly wage is lower than bus drivers.

A health plan, sponsored by Local 456, would he offered that has a lower co-pay than the coverage offered by Baumann- The coverage, admittedly, is not as comprehensive as the Baumann plan Mr. Doyle noted . However under the Baumann health coverage plan, drivers on the family plan pay 68 percent of the cost, which amounts to about $6500 a year. Most of the workers earn only about $20,000 a year.