Bozeman bus drivers vote Thursday on union

By GAIL SCHONTZLER Chronicle Staff Writer

Bus drivers for the Bozeman School District and the Streamline public transit system will vote Thursday on whether to join a union.

Jim Kobe, assistant regional director with the National Labor Relations Board in Seattle, confirmed Monday that the NLRB will conduct the secret-ballot election Thursday.

Some 50 to 60 drivers will be eligible to vote, according to representatives of the Amalgamated Transit Union and First Student Inc., the company that operates both bus systems. The election will be held at the Bozeman School District's bus barn on North 27th Avenue and results are expected Thursday night.

“I think the drivers in Bozeman have felt the pay and benefits package is not adequate given the cost of living in the Bozeman area,” said Dan Sundquist, a Denver-based organizer for the Amalgamated Transit Union, which represents 190,000 drivers nationwide.

Bozeman seems to have “big-city real estate prices with small-town wages,” Sundquist said.

Starting pay for school bus drivers is $9.75 an hour and their top pay is more than $13 an hour, said Michael Jourdan, interim manager for the Bozeman branch of First Student Inc. First Student's parent company, FirstGroup, recently merged with Laidlaw International Inc. to create the nation's largest school transportation company.

The Bozeman office's recorded phone message also promises newly trained drivers a $250 bonus with the first paycheck.

Sundquist said drivers are concerned as well about high turnover, a chronic shortage of drivers, and lack of benefits, such as paid sick days and holidays.

Jourdan said it's not true that drivers have no benefits, adding that health and dental benefits are available. Jourdan said he arrived in Bozeman just a week ago from Anchorage, Alaska, replacing longtime Laidlaw manager Vance Ruff, who left to pursue other opportunities.

If a majority of Bozeman drivers vote in favor of the union, a negotiating committee would be formed to bargain with the company for a contract, Sundquist said. Many drivers drive for both the Bozeman School District and the new Streamline bus system.

Laidlaw's five-year contract with the Bozeman School District expires this year, and the School Board recently discussed whether it should set a minimum pay level for drivers in the next contract, to reduce turnover.

Jourdan said he didn't think a pro-union vote would have a great impact on the bus contract, though it could possibly increase the price of the contract to accommodate higher wages. If a non-union competitor wins the next bus contract, Jourdan said, a union contract with drivers often continues with the new employer.

Gail Schontzler is at gails@dailychronicle.com

Copyright 2007