School buses running in Toronto and York Region after strike averted

CTV Toronto: School bus driver strike averted School buses in Toronto rolled out early this morning after a strike by First Students drivers was averted at the last minute.

Thousands of GTA children will have their regular ride to school this morning after a last-minute deal between a private bus contractor and its workers.

Discussions between Unifor Local 4268 and First Student Markham went past a midnight strike deadline into the early morning hours before a deal was finally announced just before 6  a.m.

“We’re very pleased to announce that we’ve reached a tentative agreement with First Student Markham,” Unifor Local 4268 President Debbie Montgomery told reporters early Thursday. “Our drivers are working today. They’re looking forward to working today.”

A strike would have meant that some 18,500 kids across the Public and Catholic school boards in Toronto and York Region would have had to find an alternate way of getting to school this morning. .

“This should bring a lot of relief to the parents and the kids,” Montgomery said. “They’ve had a rough start to the year. We’re glad we were able to avert the situation by attaining a deal.”

The agreement came at the very last moment for parents and kids. Both the company and the union encouraged parents Wednesday to make alternate arrangements for children on affected bus routes before the two sides resumed negotiations later in the day.

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. and there was no word from either side until the deal was announced.

Montgomery said discussions were difficult, but the union was able to get a raise for bus drivers as part of a new three-year agreement.

“The bargaining committee has worked pretty hard. We’re pretty wiped out all of us right now – it’s been a long, hard bargaining (session),” she said.

The deal will still have to be ratified by the bus drivers, but regular service is expected to continue while that process takes place.

The difficult negotiations come months after some school bus routes were affected by a shortage of drivers that was partially blamed on unattractive wages.

In a statement, Unifor said it blames many of the problems on the province’s request for proposals (RFP) process for handing out school bus contracts and said it is calling on the province to amend the process.

First Student Markham did not immediately comment on the tentative agreement.