A management & maintenance magazine for school transportation fleets
Issue link: https://sbf.epubxp.com/i/191289
continued from pg. 40 rector of transportation at Litchfeld Elementary School District #79 and president of Transportation Administrators of Arizona. Having worked in the past with districts that employed unionized bus drivers, he recommends providing the union with any information they request that you can legally give them, such as hours worked or number of feld trips each employee has performed. "As long as you are following bargaining agreement guidelines, there's nothing to hide," he adds. He also advises being proactive and keeping union reps informed about upcoming changes. If a unique situation occurs, meet with the reps to explain why it is occurring and what you need from them or how you need to proceed. For example, he says, a district he Heating Your Fleet Just Got Easier with the NEW SmarTemp Control fx The SmarTemp Control fx from Webasto is a programmable timer that works with Webasto Scholastic heaters. Be sure the buses in your fleet are warmed up and ready to go when drivers arrive by using the auto mode. New design for easy programming Up to four different timer settings per day LCD screen displays mode and heating duration Timer settings are saved indefinitely until changed Week-at-a-glance screen view for 7 days of timer settings Hour meter displays the number of hours the heater has run Adjustable low voltage disconnect Visit us at NAPT Booth #247 www.webasto.com www.schoolbusfleet.com/freeinfo/21114 44 SCHOOL BUS FLEET • NOVEMBER 2013 used to work for had a bargaining agreement that only allowed route drivers to drive feld trips; subs were not eligible. He worked with the union to make an exception during the frst week of school one year to keep route drivers on their routes for student safety reasons and allow the subs to drive athletic trips that interfered with routes. Any feld trips that did not interfere with routes went to the route drivers. "The union was happy to work with me on that [because of] student safety, and they knew that I fairly assigned all trips during the school year," Walker explains. Additionally, allowing union members to meet with the management team at least a couple times per year to discuss questions or concerns will strengthen the relationship. This is especially important since communication between the union and management often only occurs with the union reps, and if the reps are not communicating information to the members, preventable misunderstandings can arise. Walker acknowledges that it can be Bus drivers at Austintown Local Schools take part in a safety event. Director Colleen Murphy drove during a shortage, strengthening her relationship with the drivers.