<p>As of this morning (Monday). They want a wage increase of about $2 (to living wage).</p>
<p>Scabs now driving vans and mini-buses.</p>
<p>The drivers are employed by an Ohio company that determines their salary. Bama doesn’t determine their salaries. Bama pays the Ohio company $55 an hour per work hour.</p>
<p>I havent seen any busses running. Just vans and mini-busses, and they look like they are being driven by university employees, so i dont know if scabs are involved.</p>
<p>It sounds like the company, First Transit, is largely to blame for their lower salaries. Bama pays First Transit a very similar “per hour” cost as UTexas, but First Transit is under-paying the Tuscaloosa drivers. Paying them a bit less than UTexas-Austin might be justified because of the lower cost of living, but paying them a lot less would be hard to justify. </p>
<p>Most of the CDL-licensed drivers earn less than $10 per hour and no benefits, substantially below the scale of drivers servicing campuses like University of Texas at Austin (wage scale $11.25-17.16) or University of Florida at Gainesville ($12.50-16.75) with benefits. The contracts with both First Transit at the University of Texas and the University of Alabama are very similar in cost per hour of service provided.</p>
<p>Everthing is contracted out these days, isn’t it? Bama could apply pressure to bring these good folks up to the average of these other schools. Could even threaten not to renew their contract!</p>
<p>Okay, so some buses are running, they are being driven by First Transit administrators, mechanics or trainees (not in the union yet, I guess).</p>
<p>There may be some scabs working. What I’m trying to figure out is how much UA is saving by either not doing the work themselves or keeping the County (Tuscaloosa Trolley) driving the buses as was the case before the Crimson Ride. I’m rarely a fan of contracting out work unless the cost is a lot lower and the employees are paid a fair wage and have good working conditions. Needless to say, I’m walking instead, burning calories and often cutting down my commute times.</p>
<p>The drivers have agreed to end to strike tomorrow and return to the negotiation table with First Transit.</p>
<p>^^^That’s good news.</p>
<p>Well, I dunno to make of this. We got an email last night saying the buses won’t run until further notice. This is apparently a university decision to keep the bus drivers from driving until the contract negotiations are over.</p>
<p>feeno…which email did you get? My kids got the following email last night at 9:22pm, which indicates limited bus service.</p>
<p>UA STUDENT NEWS 9:22 PM </p>
<p>March 2, 2010</p>
<p>LIMITED BUS SERVICE
Limited bus service will be available on the UA campus until First Transit and the Amalgamated Transit Union agree on a contract, and the bus operators return to work. The following schedule should allow students, faculty and staff to better plan for their transportation needs during the coming days. Please expect and prepare for delays.</p>
<p>Crimson Ride Schedule</p>
<p>· Monday – Friday, from 7 a.m. -7 p.m., Crimson Ride buses will operate only two routes:</p>
<p>· Coleman/Quad Express</p>
<p>· Blue Express</p>
<pre><code> University vans may also service these same routes/stops.
</code></pre>
<p>· Monday – Friday, from 7 p.m. - 10 p.m., Crimson Ride will operate its regular normal routes:</p>
<p>· Perimeter North</p>
<p>· Perimeter South</p>
<p>· Crimson</p>
<p>· 348-Ride Express will operate as normally scheduled Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights from 9 p.m. - 3:30 a.m.</p>
<p>· 348-RIDE on-demand service will operate as regularly scheduled:</p>
<p>· Monday - Friday, from 10 p.m. -7 a.m.</p>
<p>· Saturday and Sunday, 7 p.m-7 a.m.</p>
<p>· Bus service will not operate 9 a.m. -7 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday</p>
<p>Yeah, that’s the email I’m referring to, m2ck. I think the situation is the same as on Monday - the buses are being operated by First Transit administrators and mechanics. The drivers are not working, so only buses that take students to the peripheral parking lots are operating.</p>
<p>^^^That does appear to be the case. Maybe Dr. Witt realized that having university employees leave their offices to go drive vans wasn’t sending the best message. Until a contract is signed, I have a mandatory exercise plan, lol.</p>
<p>That doesn’t make sense, though. The bus drivers agreed to return to work and resume negotiations.</p>
<p>Apparently there’s something in the contract UA has with First says that Witt has the right to fire any driver without cause. What I’ve heard is that the reason for the limited service is that Witt wants First to come out ahead in the negotiations, probably so that the price paid by the University doesn’t go up. I still want to see how much UA is “saving” by contracting with First. Some universities contract with the local government or even operate buses themselves.</p>
<p>Looks like everything is completely resolved now.</p>