The current agreement between the Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation (EVSC) and its almost sixty contracted bus drivers is set to expire in a few weeks. A new contract hasn’t been signed, a source of worry among bus drivers.
Contracted bus drivers say their association approached the EVSC last August to propose a new four-year contract, but they’ve yet to receive a counter-proposal.
Two drivers who spoke exclusively to WNIN say the lack of a contract makes it hard to purchase insurance or receive a loan to buy a new bus, which can cost up to a $100,000.
One local commercial lender we contacted said the lack of a contract would be grounds to deny a loan, although there could be mitigating factors like a separate source of income or a high net worth.
EVSC spokesman Jason Woebkenberg gave WNIN the following statement:
It would be inappropriate to comment on the status of current negotiations with our contract school bus drivers. In fact, we will be negotiating with several of our EVSC employee groups throughout the summer, and we will follow this same protocol. We are currently analyzing how the recently adopted state budget will impact our ability to bargain wages and benefits with our employee groups.
"We're past crunch time already," one driver said. "Something has got to be done."