Talks continue to avert strike by school bus drivers

With a midnight strike deadline come and gone, talks continue between a bus company and a union representing school bus drivers who shuttle thousands of GTA children to school every day.

Talks between negotiators with Unifor Local 4268 and First Student Markham resumed at around 5 p.m. Wednesday, a little more than two hours after the union put out a press release accusing the company of walking away from the table.

“I am hopeful that something will come from our discussions,” Unifor Local 4268 President Debbie Montgomery told reporters about the resumption of negotiations. “They say they are ready to talk. There is always hope when you are talking.”

As of 12:01 a.m. Thursday, drivers employed at First Student were in a legal strike position.

At around 1 a.m., Unifor presented an offer to First Student. After discussing the offer, the bus company returned to the bargaining table about a half hour later.

First Student left the room again at around 2 a.m.

About 18,000 students will be impacted if bus drivers walk off the job.

Montgomery said the main issue in the negotiations is wages.

“We want to get it done,” she said. “We want our drivers in the buses picking up the kids.”

If drivers walk off the job, the impact would be felt by the Public and Catholic boards in both Toronto and York Region.

Montgomery said that 320 drivers with her union are responsible for more than 200 school bus routes in the GTA.

All told, the number of students that would be affected by a potential strike would be about 18,500, including 8,500 in the Toronto District School Board and 10,000 between the York Region District School Board and the York Catholic District School Board.

For its part, First Student told CP24 that is conscious of the possible impact on the community and is hopeful that an agreement can be reached, but still advises parents to make alternate arrangements for Thursday.

Discussing the ongoing negotiations earlier on Wednesday, Montgomery said that compensation remains the major sticking point.

She said the average school bus driver is paid about $45-65 per day to a work a split shift where they are on call and end up working many unpaid hours.

She said drivers are looking for "recognition of the important work" they do "day in and day out."

“We cannot continue to have hours a week go unpaid and unrecognized. All hours worked need to be compensated, with these hours EI eligible," she added.

The potential job action comes after a school bus driver shortage that disrupted transportation services at schools across Ontario earlier this year.

“It broke my heart to see all those children stranded,” Montgomery said. “The best way to make sure that doesn’t happen again is to ensure that drivers can afford to keep the job."

The Toronto and York Region have sent out letters to parents warning them of the potential strike. Notices sent out to students at both boards last month warned parents to prepare for a possible strike.

"What we are asking parents to do is make alternate plans just in case. We don’t know. We are hopeful that an agreement will be reached. I think all sides, bus drivers included, are very hopeful that an agreement can be reached but we have to plan for the worst," TDSB spokesperson Ryan Bird told CP24 Wednesday.

"Just given the volume of bus drivers that would be off the job in the event of a strike, we can’t replace all of those bus drivers and buses especially given the fact that there is a current bus driver shortage... Unfortunately, if there is a strike, there will be no buses for those specific students service by First Student Markham division."

For a full list of schools that would be affected by a potential strike follow this link.