The US is facing a series of school bus strikes as the new school year begins.
School bus driver shortages and lagging compensation have incited several strikes and raised the prospect of a huge school bus driver strike in New York City.
Every state in the US has reported at least one instance of a major school bus driver shortage, according to a recent USA Today analysis, with low driver pay, Covid-19 challenges, and inconvenient hours as some of the cited contributing factors. School districts around the US have faced delays, changed school schedules or canceled classes, and doubled routes for current bus drivers to try to alleviate driver shortages.
In New York City, school bus routes continued on Thursday 7 September and Friday 8 September, as new contract negotiations aimed at averting a strike continued between Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1181-1061 and school bus contractors.
The Amalgamated Transit Union International president, John Costa, argued the nationwide school bus driver shortage is being driven by the nature of the work, low pay and lack of benefits driven by privatization of school bus services where municipalities accept the cheapest contract bids.
“That’s what happens with privatization when there is a profit margin, that’s what it’s all about, greed and they take it off the workers’ backs,” said Costa. “The work is very hard. It’s long hours, in the summer sometimes they lose their jobs. A lot of the contracts don’t offer severance over summer like they do with teachers.”
He said the pandemic highlighted the precarious position of drivers. “There were no Covid funds for the school bus industry so there were a bunch of layoffs when the shutdowns happened,” said Costa.
In New York City school bus drivers are working under a two-tier wage system due to concessions pushed on to drivers under the Mike Bloomberg administration, said Costa, and wages can vary widely for the same exact work.
“They’re in a situation now where they’re working next to somebody else doing the same job and they get less pay, they get less holidays, they get less sick time, they get no severance for being out for summer. You’re not helping morale by doing something like that, you’re not helping your workforce,” said Costa. “My members risked their lives, they died from Covid and now they go into contract negotiations and they don’t want to talk about these things, they just want to put a small percentage on top. It isn’t about the money. How do you have a system like this where half the workforce is getting more and the other half less?”
Tomas Fret, who assumed the role of president of the local union in 2022, is supporting a school bus bill of rights that includes restoring employee protection provisions that were eliminated under Bloomberg in 2013.
The last school bus driver strike in New York City occurred in 2013, lasting five weeks. The union is currently in negotiations as the possible strike looms next week.
On 5 September, school bus drivers in Coventry, Connecticut, represented by the same local also went on strike and they may extend picket lines to Bolton, Willington, and Stafford, Connecticut.
School bus drivers in the Lakota school district near Cincinnati, Ohio, started striking on 1 September in a fight for a new union contract as a federal mediator intervened in trying to get the contractor and union, Teamsters Local 100, to reach an agreement. A tentative agreement was reached on 6 September.
School bus drivers in Meriden, Connecticut, represented by Teamsters Local 671 began striking on 1 September in a fight for a new union contract with their contractor, New Britain Transportation, that will bring their wages in line with other school bus contractors in the state. On 5 September, the union reached a temporary agreement as the City of Meriden voided NBT’s contract for failure to provide service during the strike and will work to replace the contractor. NBT did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Nick Frangiamore, field representative for local 671, said the contractor’s final offer included several concessions and provided no paid holidays and inadequate wage increases.
“They had multiple routes to prevent this from happening,” said Frangiamore. “We’re not trying to set industry standards, we just want drivers to get to what everyone else in the area is getting paid.”
He said the top rate for a 25-year school bus driver is $22.09 an hour, which is marginally above the starting rate in the area for a first-year bus driver at $21.50 an hour, with the median wage in the New Haven area is $22.90 with six to nine paid holidays as the standard.
“The starting wage for a school bus driver right now is about $21.50 an hour and the top rate is anywhere between $31 to $36 an hour and usually hit that top rate in about five or six years of service and NBT right now is $18.87 an hour to start and $22.09 at the top,” he said. “They are the lowest paid, there is zero 401k, there’s zero health benefits. It’s by far the worst contract in the state and probably the worst one in the country for a bargained contract.”
He explained due to the low wages and lack of benefits, school bus drivers have had to cover extra shifts and double runs to make up for the vacant bus routes.
“It’s supposed to be three hours in the morning, three hours in the afternoon, but they end up working 12-hour days and they’re not compensated fairly for that,” added Frangiamore.
