Saturday, March 11, 2000
Schools told to rehire drivers
Lebanon contracted jobs out
BY PHILLIP PINA and SUE KIESEWETTER
The Cincinnati Enquirer
LEBANON - The State Employment Relations Board ordered Lebanon City Schools on Friday to rehire its bus drivers whose jobs were contracted out last year.
The board ordered the district to carry out a plan that would have rehired the drivers, despite the fact many now work for Laidlaw Transit. The Lebanon Board of Education tabled the plan in February after many of the drivers spoke out against the deal.
Friday's order is the latest controversy about Lebanon bus drivers.
An attorney for the Ohio Association of Public School Employees, the union that repre sented the drivers before the Laidlaw contract, on Thursday accused the drivers of breach of contract. They had formed a new organization they wanted to represent them.
The attorney representing this new group, the Lebanon School Bus Drivers Association, said Friday there is no basis for the lawsuit threatened by the union's attorney.
“Our position is he's full of it,” LSBDA attorney Christian Jenkins said. “I believe it's a scare tactic and has no legal basis.”
A year ago, Lebanon awarded Laidlaw a five-year contract to run its transportation department. The drivers, then district employees and represented by OAPSE, were laid off. Many were then hired by Laidlaw. The union continued to fight for those jobs, filing complaints of unfair labor practices against the district.
The district eventually agreed to settle with the union, and on Feb. 14, it was scheduled to approve a plan that would rehire the workers. But miffed at the union, many workers spoke out against the plan, saying they wanted to stay with Laidlaw.
The Lebanon board had tabled the plan. The state board said Friday it's time to move along.
This is not the only battle OAPSE is waging over privatization. The Ohio Supreme Court is reviewing a case from Batavia where the union representing laid-off drivers — since hired by Laidlaw — is trying to get them reinstated as school employees.
Usually, the transition is smoother, said Dale Moser, Laidlaw's area general manager. The company contracts with about 35 districts in Ohio.
In Lebanon, the bus drivers met with Mr. Jenkins on Friday and have scheduled another meeting Monday to decide what their next step will be.
The Lebanon school board is scheduled to meet again on March 20. Board member Orville Robinson said it will have to re-examine options, including a possible appeal.
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