JAY — Bus drivers and custodians in Regional School Unit 73 voted Wednesday to ratify a three‑year contract that includes annual pay increases of up to 7 percent, according to a union representative.
The RSU 73 board of directors is expected to vote on the contract proposal at its meeting Sept. 10.
The vote to ratify came “in the nick of time,” said Don Crockett, business agent for the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 340, which represents the Spruce Mountain School District bus drivers and custodians.
He declined to release vote totals, saying only that the contract “passed overwhelmingly.”
The drivers and custodians had been deadlocked in contract negotiations since last winter and have been working without a contract since July 1, according to Crockett.
School Superintendent Scott Albert declined to comment, saying only that “the school board will be voting on the contract proposal at the regular school board meeting on the 10th.”
The contract calls for 7 percent annual increases for employees when they drive buses and 3.25 percent when they work as custodians.
Starting pay for a driver in the Spruce Mountain School District is $24.11. If the school board approves the proposed contract, starting pay will rise to $25.80 on July 1, to $27.61 in 2027 and to $29.54 in 2028.
Most employees covered by the contract work as both drivers and custodians.
Crockett told Monitor Local on Aug. 11 that some morning bus drivers switch to custodial duties when the school day begins and then return to driving in the afternoon. Others finish their shifts with custodial work during the school day.
Some drivers begin their workday on afternoon bus routes and then return to school buildings to do custodial work into the evening and night, he said.
The district has about 25 driver and custodian positions, about five of which are vacant, according to Crockett.
He said the new contract “has the potential to draw people back in (to jobs in RSU 73),” and that the new wage scale is competitive with surrounding districts.
The final proposal was worked out with a mediator from the Maine Labor Relations Board, Crockett said, who worked with him and with a lawyer representing RSU 73.
The 7 percent raise is close to the $1.66 an hour requested by the employees when negotiations began last winter.
Crockett said the contract calls for no changes in working conditions. He said members were generally happy with the Teamsters’ health plan and that, with sports and academic bus trips, they have opportunities for overtime pay.
Employees pay 15 percent of the cost of health insurance premiums, he said.
A member of the union local, who asked not to be identified by Monitor Local for fear of retaliation, said, “We did it,” adding that the vote came “after being told 3.5 (percent) was the best we would get.”
That union member also said the division of pay levels into driver and custodian is new in the contract.
Crockett said he and the Teamsters have “always had a good relationship with (Superintendent Scott) Albert.”
“We’re ready to move on,” Crockett said.
