Blue-collar jobs preserved in new contract with Philadelphia district

From The Philadelphia Inquirer: After months of negotiations and protests over possible layoffs, the Philadelphia School Reform Commission has approved a contract with its blue-collar union that preserves jobs and provides $100 million in savings over the next four years. The district's bus drivers, cleaners, and building engineers and other union members agreed to forgo raises totaling 5 percent that they were due under the existing contract. Wages will be frozen for four years, and union members will make weekly contributions of between $5 and $45 – depending on income -- to help reduce the district's deficit. In return, the deal preserves the jobs of nearly all of the union's 2,700 members through Aug. 31, 2016.