By Marietta Homayonpour THE NEWS-TIMES 2002-01-18 [Although bus drivers rejected a recent contract offer in New Fairfield, students were delivered to and from school Thursday.] The News-Times/Wendy Carlson

Although bus drivers rejected a recent contract offer in New Fairfield, students were delivered to and from school Thursday. NEW FAIRFIELD ? Students have no school today and Monday, but whether schools will be dealing with a bus strike against Laidlaw Transit when they reopen Tuesday is still uncertain. Members of Teamsters Local 677 voted 28 to 1 Wednesday night to reject Laidlaw?s contract offer. They are ready to strike, but no date was set. A business agent and organizer for the union, George Brier, said school bus drivers did not strike Thursday because they knew the weather would be bad and did not want to jeopardize the safety of the children. ?It was out of the question,? said Brier about a Thursday strike. ?They would never want to strike when the roads are bad.? Meanwhile, Laidlaw Transit is keeping preparations in place in case there is a strike.

Laidlaw general manager Cliff Gibson said supervisors, managers and certified instructors were prepared to drive the buses Thursday and will be ready to do so next week if necessary. All replacement drivers are certified Connecticut school bus drivers who came to New Fairfield over the weekend to learn the routes, Gibson said. A strike in New Fairfield would not affect other local towns where Laidlaw also provides school bus service, such as Brookfield, Danbury, New Milford and Bethel. Gibson said Laidlaw provides school bus service in 75 Connecticut public school districts. About 40 percent are unionized.

Brier said Brookfield drivers also recently joined the union. Their first contract negotiation meeting is set for next week. Contract negotiations in New Fairfield, where the Teamsters organized the school bus drivers last year, have been going on for several months. A federal mediator was brought in recently to help.

?We?ve been working with the mediator and bargaining in good faith,? said Gibson.

But the Teamsters? Brier said, ?you can see by the number of people against (Laidlaw?s offer) that they were wrong in their assumptions.? Safety concerns and wages were the main points negotiated between the company and the union, Brier said.

Gibson said the company is offering a 6 to 8 percent increase in wages during the first year of the contract and an 18 to 21 percent increase over the life of the three-year contract. The differences are due to seniority, he said.

In talks with New Fairfield school bus drivers Thursday, several expressed a particular concern. ?We?re looking for safer parking for the buses,? said 23-year veteran Jeanne Sacrider. For many years, buses have been parked overnight in the back parking lot at Meeting House Hill School. Drivers said there is not enough space. Passenger cars sometimes park in the bus area, and when big events are held at the school, another place has to be found for the buses.