Council hearing details $6.6 million request to cover Transdev bus drivers' new contract

Boston — The Boston City Council Committee on Ways and Means heard on Jan. 13 that the city is seeking roughly $6.6 million in supplemental FY25 funding to cover the fiscal impact of a new collective bargaining agreement between Transdev and the school bus drivers' union that provides wage increases, higher minimum weekly hours and other benefits.

Budget Director Jim Williamson told the committee the first set of dockets before the panel would “increase the BPS budget by $6,600,000 and reduce the central collective bargaining reserve by an equal amount” to support the contract tied to Boston Public Schools’ transportation vendor, Transdev. Williamson said the FY25 adopted budget included $96.8 million for collective bargaining reserves and that this request would lower that reserve to about $83.1 million once previously approved agreements were counted.

The agreement described by Dan Rosengard, Executive Director of Transportation for Boston Public Schools, is a four‑year successor collective bargaining agreement effective July 1, 2024, through June 30, 2028. Rosengard summarized the deal as including a market wage adjustment that raises the report hourly rate from $29.13 to $33 in year one, then to $34 in year two, $35 in year three and $35.38 in year four; a reduction in years‑of‑service eligibility for retirement benefits from 30 to 25 years; an increase in the retirement severance amount per year of service (to $1,200 per year of service in year one and rising $100 per year to…