PBSD Transportation Union Takes Pay Cut

After working under an expired contract for more than eight months, Plum School District transportation employees and officials have reached a new agreement.

During a special voting meeting on Tuesday, the Plum School Board approved a three-year contract with the Amalgamated Transit Union Division 1595 with an 8-0 vote. The contract is retroactive to Aug. 1, 2012, and is in effect until July 31, 2015. Board member Tom McGough was absent.

The union represents a unit of about 61 people employed as bus drivers, mechanics and aides.

Under the new agreement, employees will experience a wage freeze this year, take a $4.23-per-hour cut during the second year of the contract, and get an 8-cent-per-hour increase in the final year.

Drivers currently are paid $21.14 per hour, mechanics are paid $23.45 per hour and aides are paid $13.06 per hour.

During negotiations, both entities sought help from a Pennsylvania Labor Relation Board fact-finder to review the situation and make a recommendation.

The union proposed 3.5 percent hourly wage increases, while district officials proposed a flat reduction of $5 per hour of combined wages and payroll taxes for a three-year term. District officials also had considered outsourcing the transportation services.

Union members have publicly said that outsourcing the services would not be a good move for the district.

According to the Plum Advance Leader, the union approved the new contract with a 26-22 vote last week.

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