Boston Council Panel Reviews $7M in Union Contracts for Bus Drivers, Housing Workers

BOSTON — January 13, 2025 — Boston Ways and Means Committee hears $7 million in union contract funding for bus drivers and housing workers. Chair Brian Worrell convened the January 13 hearing on four dockets — numbers 0112 through 0115 — that would draw down the city's $96.8 million collective bargaining reserve to cover FY25 costs for two agreements: a $6,637,487 supplemental appropriation for Boston Public Schools tied to a new four-year TransDev contract with United Steelworkers Local 8751, raising bus driver wages from $29.13 to $33 per hour in year one, and a $421,318 appropriation for Mayor's Office of Housing employees covered by SEIU Local 888, providing 2 percent annual increases plus flat additions up to $900. Budget Director Jim Williamson said the transfers would leave $83.1 million in collective bargaining reserves. Councilor Erin J. Murphy raised a pointed procedural challenge, noting that the contract's new "work as directed" language — the key operational tool for covering student athletics trips — had not been finalized, and questioned whether the council should vote before it is complete; Labor Senior Advisor Lou Mandarini declined to estimate when the language would be ready.