NEW: Providence School Bus Drivers, First Student Reach Deal

Wednesday, March 04, 2015

GoLocalProv News Team

Strike is off -- Providence bus drivers and First Student reach deal.

Following the threat of a potential strike over terms of a new contract, the Providence school bus drivers have reached a new four year deal.

Members of the Teamsters Local 251, which is the union representing the drivers, approved a negotiated deal with the school bus company First Student on Tuesday night.

"We have a deal in Providence," said Nick Williams, Assistant Business Agent for the Local 251. "It's a lot of retroactive pay back to July 2014."

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Guaranteed Hours Negotiated

Negotiations had taken place during the twenty-one day "cooling off period" after the Teamsters had threatened strike on February 16.

"At first I was nervous [the negotiated deal] would fail, I thought what they came back with wouldn't have worked, but I give all the credit it the world to my guys for last minute bargaining," said WIlliams.

One of the major negotiating points was a three-hour guarantee for drivers for each shift, which the Teamsters argued the drivers should get to be on par with the bus monitors.

"It's up to 2.75," said Williams. "The difference is what [First Student] was offering before, it would have been effective July 1, 2015. We got it retroactive to July 1, 2014."

Related Slideshow: Providence Snow Equipment Costs

Below are the costs of some of the recent plow trucks Providence has purchased. The slides also include some figures from the Department of Parks and Recreations for vehicles that could be used to plow snow. In addition to purchase prices, the cost of repairing vehicles in the Department of Public Works is included over a five-year period. Because city budget records do not have a separate line item for snow plow trucks, the total cost of auto and truck repairs for each year is displayed. Sources: in addition to budget records, meeting records for the Providence City Council and the Board of Contract and Supply.