![[CREDIT: Rob Borkowski] While Warwick Schools were able to meet all their bus route needs despite challenges with a national bus driver shortage, the ranks of RIDE bus drivers could be filled by non-union DATTCO workers, a move the RI AFL-CIO protests will undermine driver wages and benefits.](https://warwickpost.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/buses-sawtooth.jpg)
![[CREDIT: Rob Borkowski] Warwick Schools were able to meet all their bus route needs despite challenges with a national bus driver shortage last year. Warwick bus drivers negotiated higher pay and lower health costs last week.](https://warwickpost.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/buses-sawtooth-336x213.jpg)
A tentative agreement was reached with ATU Local 618 Sept. 18, then ratified Sept. 21. The ratified contract ensures school transportation services will continue uninterrupted for students and families in Warwick and Jamestown school districts.
“First Student is pleased to have reached a new contract agreement with the union that underscores our commitment to the success and well-being of our employees,” said Frank McMahon, spokesperson for First Student. “We look forward to focusing fully again on what we do best, providing safe and reliable transportation services to the communities we serve.”
The new contract between First Student and ATU Local 618 includes significant increases in wages, improved healthcare benefits, and enhanced retirement contributions.
Warwick bus drivers contract details
Monday, Local 618 President/Business Agent Walter Melillo said they’d aimed for a three-year contract but settled on a four-year agreement. Nonetheless, he felt the agreement was a good one for the Warwick bus drivers.
Wages, which previously topped out at $27.70 per hour will now increase to a maximum of $35 per hour, with 6 steps. Also, he said, they won a three-hour guarantee per shift. Generally, he said, drivers work 30 hours per week. Melillo was also happy to report that health insurance costs for the drivers had been reduced, though he did not disclose by how much.
The Warwick bus drivers contract is retroactive to July 1, 2024, and ends June 30, 2028.
Melillo said he was pleased to have won a fair contract for the men and women entrusted with the community’s school children, who grow up under their care in the mornings and afternoons, navigating weather and traffic to get them safely to school and home. Many of the drivers, he said, are single parents whose lives will be significantly improved by the new contract terms.
“They’re great with the kids and it takes a certain kind of person to do this,” Melillo said. “They do a great job.”
Author: Rob Borkowski
Rob has worked as reporter and editor for several publications, including The Kent County Daily Times and Coventry Courier, before working for Gatehouse in MA then moving home with Patch Media. Now he's publisher and editor of WarwickPost.com. Contact him at [email protected] with tips, press releases, advertising inquiries, and concerns.
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