School bus company, union settle; no strike

The Teamsters have settled a contract dispute with an area school bus company, putting to an end fears of a strike for Long Island school districts.

Teamsters Local 1205 announced on its website that “after months of hard-fought negotiations that began in May 2015, the parties have reached a tentative agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement that will expire June 30, 2018.”

If the union membership ratifies the agreement, there will be no work stoppage, the Teamsters said. The union had voted on Saturday to authorize a strike, but no walkout had yet been called.

The threat of a strike had loomed over the Baldwin School District and dozens of others across Long Island at least since school began in September. That was when contract talks between the Teamsters and Ronkonkoma-based Baumann & Sons bus company broke down.

Baumann, whose subsidiary Acme Buses operates the buses, has said the majority of its contracts are not with entire school districts, but with parts of them.

Still, Baldwin Superintendent Shari L. Camhi had noted that a strike could “disrupt bus service for up to 300 children in our district.” Many of the children who could have been affected included special needs students and students at Hastings Academy. Some private or parochial students could have also been affected.

The Baldwin district has been working for the past several weeks to arrange alternative transportation for those students who could have been affected by the strike.

In a notice posted on the Baldwin schools web site, the district said simply, “Please be aware that Bauman/Acme Bus Company has settled and there will be no strike.”

According to the Teamsters’ website, the agreement, which has the endorsement of federal mediator Ralph Quattrocchi, addresses “several of the issues that were identified over the last few days.”

It adds: “Local 1205 has agreed that its bargaining committee will recommend ratification of the tentative agreement to its membership in advance of a vote that will be held later this week.”