Washtenaw County, Michigan school bus drivers face deep wage cuts

[Hannah Bell]

Bus drivers, mechanics, and aides for ten public school districts in Washtenaw County, Michigan are targeted for layoffs, double-digit wage cuts, and other attacks under a countywide consolidation plan. The proposal will affect hundreds of bus workers and tens of thousands of students across Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti, and surrounding towns.... the plan would cut transportation costs by as much as 25 percent, virtually entirely through cuts to staff levels, wages, and compensation...

Transportation employees will be laid off and made to re-apply for fewer positions at far lower pay under the plan, with no recognition of seniority. Ten percent of the workforce is to be laid off.
WISD officials have said that those not hired back will lose their pensions...

The proposal calls for a 17 percent pay cut for workers who are already among the lowest paid of all public school employees.

In Ann Arbor, bus drivers currently make an average of $17 per hour, and are guaranteed a minimum daily work day of only four hours. The plan would cut the hourly rate to $13 per hour, and would do away with guaranteed minimum hours...The consolidation plan comes little more than two months after a series of deep cuts to basic programs and schools throughout the county...

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2010/jun2010/ybus-j07.shtml


The story goes on to describe the threadbare conditions of some of the facilities the drivers work out of; sounds like they've been starving for funding for a while. Buses breaking down, "transportation center" that's been condemned, "lounge" with a rotting floor, etc.