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Strike may have been averted, ratification vote may be Monday

A strike by Ohio Association of Public School Employees may have been averted, thanks to a tentative agreement between Scioto County Board of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities and its bus drivers Thursday night.

On Aug. 4, the union notified the board it would strike on Aug. 15, if there wasn't a resolution of the issue of subcontracting bus services at Scioto County MRDD.

"OAPSE represents the bus drivers, and I believe there are 11 or 12 bus drivers employed by the Scioto County Board of MRDD," said Karen Bailey, OAPSE field representative.

Bailey had said on Thursday the main issue surrounding a recent strike vote is the privatization of the transportation subcontracting to Petermann Transportation, a private company, which Bailey said would change the status of the drivers from state employees to private employees, and placing them under Social Security instead of their current system