Owner-Operator Labor Board Complaint Nearing Conclusion

By Eliza Hallabeck

WETHERSFIELD — The state Board of Labor Relations heard the final testimony for its hearing, Wednesday, May 9, of a complaint by Newtown’s school bus owner-operators. The owner-operators allege the Newtown Board of Education failed to bargain with the group prior to deciding whether to open the 2012–17 transportation contract for bids.

At the end of Wednesday’s session it was decided to have the briefs from each attorney in the case due to be filed with the labor board by the close of business on July 16, with the labor board’s decision on the case to follow. The complaint first went before the labor board on December 29.

The owner-operators, who are individually contracted bus drivers responsible primarily for regular education routes in town and maintaining privately owned buses, are represented by attorney Henry F. Murray, and the Board of Education is represented by its attorney, Floyd Dugas.

The complaint asserts the district violated the Municipal Employees Labor Relations Act (MELRA). It was issued by Mr Murray, who cites a violation of Section 7-470 (4) of MELRA in that the board failed to bargain with the owner-operators through their elected contract committee with respect to its decision to subcontract school bus driving responsibilities. Following an executive session on October 4, the Board of Education voted 5-1, with current board chair and then vice chair Debbie Leidlein the sole vote against the motion, to approve the final five-year contract between the school district and All-Star Transportation Inc of Torrington.

The collective owner-operators tendered the fourth lowest bid at $11.7 million; First Student Transportation bid just over $11 million and DATTCO presented an $11.4 million bid for the contract. All-Star was the lowest qualified bidder for the 2012–17 contract, offerings its services for just over $10.2 million for the five-year contract.

John Dufour, president of All-Star Transportation, was the first witness called by Mr Dugas on Wednesday. Explaining he has been a school bus contractor for 35 years, Mr Dufour went through how he started working for his father’s company after graduating in 1977 and later, after his father’s company was sold and he started and sold another bus contracting company, Mr Dufour started All-Star Transportation in 2004. The company, he said, now serves 17 school districts in 28 towns in Connecticut. Mr Dufour confirmed for Mr Dugas that the Newtown 2012–17 bus contract for regular education routes was awarded to his company at the end of September. He also said All-Star bid on a contract for special education routes in 2009, and that contract was awarded to MTM Transportation.

During his testimony Mr Dufour said his company is preparing bus routes and the Board of Education will be responsible for approving them, All-Star drivers must comply with school board policy, and the owner-operators were written in the contract All-Star has with the Newtown school district.

When asked by Mr Murray whether Mr Dufour had an interest in seeing the school district succeed in the case, Mr Dufour said, “I have no interest in whether they prevail or not. I have a contract that I intend to honor.”

A provision in the contract stipulates that if the owner-operators should win the case, the school district will provide them as drivers for All-Star. When providing the rates for that option for the contract, Mr Dufour said he did not take his company’s profits away. Finally, Mr Dufour said he hopes it does not matter whether the drivers are from Newtown or not from Newtown.

After saying All-Star Transportation was asked to bid on the 2012–17 Newtown school bus contract, Mr Dufour further explained that proposal came through to his office, not to him specifically. Later, when school district Business Director Ronald Bienkowski was testifying, he said all the companies, and the owner-operators, that ended up bidding for the 2012-17 contract were contacted, and more.

Mr Murray also asked whether Mr Dufour has experience working with Mr Bienkowski in the past.

“I never dealt with [Mr Bienkowski],” said Mr Dufour. “He worked in a town when my father ran his business, back in the 70s.”

Mr Bienkowski testified later that with the director of transportation position eliminated, both the superintendent and he are responsible for that position’s duties, the owner-operators are in charge of paying substitutes that have been approved by the school district, and the owner-operators contract committee was known as the Harmony Committee when he began his position with the school district, roughly 12 years ago.

After Mr Bienkowski was notified to place the 2012–17 contract out for bids, he said, “I notified [the owner-operators] when we were ready to hit the street with the bid documents.”

Owner-operator Carey Schierloh was called as the final witness of the day by Mr Murray. When the contract committee was called the Harmony Committee, she said the group did the same duties it has in recent years.

Ms Schierloh also said the owner-operators offered to take a pay freeze during negotiations with the school board in 2009, but after further negotiations that pay freeze was never agreed upon. Later in 2010, Ms Schierloh said the owner-operators met with three school board members for other negotiations, and one board member, David Nanavaty, said there would be no more negotiations at that time unless the owner-operators offered to cover the cost of fuel.

“We never came to an agreement,” she said.

Hearing officers for the state Board of Labor Relations were Patricia Low, Wendella Ault Battey, and Barbara J. Collins, who at the start of the first hearing session announced she would act impartially for the purpose of the hearing but made it clear for the record that she has worked on cases with and against Mr Dugas. No one present at the first meeting voiced concern with her role as a hearing officer.