Bus drivers in Woodland, Ill., will get their jobs back this fall, thanks to a deal struck by the Lake County Federation of Teachers/AFT.

Under an agreement ratified by the school board earlier in February, more than 90 former drivers whose jobs were outsourced will get $1,000 in damages for every year the district had employed them, and drivers who worked less than a year will get $100 for every month.

Starting pay for drivers will be $15.25 an hour, and those with more than 16 years in the district will earn $21 an hour — overall, slightly more than the drivers were earning from the private contractor. Full-time drivers also will receive retirement and insurance benefits, which they were not getting from the contractor. In addition, seniority and sick leave will be restored.

The Woodland school board voted in 2004 to outsource the bus drivers’ jobs, despite the workers’ offer to cut their top wage by $7 an hour. After the outsourcing, many of the Woodland drivers took lower-paying jobs with the private bus contractor.

The Center for Union Facts has launched an anti-teacher union ad campaign in Newark, N.J., focusing on the theory that tenure protects bad teachers. The campaign has begun in Newark, but the sponsors are threatening to take it to other cities.

The ads are appearing on buses, mobile billboards and in the Newark Star Ledger. The ads blame unions for failing children in Newark and around the country.

The center is led by Richard Berman, who orchestrated attacks against a higher minimum wage and regulations on smoking.

The AFT is working with its New Jersey affiliates on countering this attack. Members who believe the center is moving its attack into their states should contact Chuck Porcari, the AFT’s director of public affairs, at cporcari@aft.org or at (202) 879-4482.