Mat-Su school bus worker strike to enter fifth week
Contract negotiations between the union and the bus company ended Thursday without an agreement.
What you need to know:
- A school bus worker strike in Mat-Su will stretch into a fifth week after the workers’ union and bus company failed to reach an agreement Thursday. Negotiations are set to continue April 1.
- Durham and the district restored seven special education bus routes this week using drivers brought in from the Lower 48. The strike affects more than 18,000 students. Mat-Su school attendance has dropped 2% this month compared with the same period last year.
- The district is saving about $100,000 per day on routes that are not running.
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PALMER — A Mat-Su school bus worker strike will stretch into a fifth week after a union representing employees and the region’s primary bus contractor failed to reach an agreement Thursday.
Negotiations between Teamsters 959 and Durham School Services on Thursday ended without an agreement and are scheduled to resume April 1, a union official said late Thursday afternoon.
Union and Durham officials did not immediately provide additional information about the negotiations or the ongoing stalemate. Durham officials also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The union represents about 230 Durham workers, including bus drivers and attendants. A contract between the workers and Durham expired Feb. 4.
The strike, which started March 2, impacts more than 18,000 students across Mat-Su’s core area, Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District officials said earlier this month.
Mat-Su officials were able to restart seven special education bus routes this week serving schools in Houston and Big Lake, as well as Su Valley Jr/Sr High School students, after Durham brought in some temporary bus drivers from out of state, district spokesman John Notestine said in an interview Thursday.
Guardians for special education students who are guaranteed transportation as part of their individual learning plans can receive mileage reimbursements for transporting their students to and from school, Notestine said. Those who cannot get to school because of the worker strike will receive extra educational support to meet the time requirements included in their learning plans, he said.
Overall school attendance across the region dropped about 2% this month compared with the same period last year, when buses were in operation, he said.
The district does not pay Durham for bus routes that do not run and is saving about $100,000 each day of the strike, district officials said at a school board meeting Tuesday.
The district annually spends about $20 million on student transportation, with about $3.5 million of that coming from district operations funding and the rest provided by state transportation subsidies, according to budget documents.
Any savings created by the strike can go back into the district’s account up to that $3.5 million local funding mark, officials told the school board last month. Unspent state transportation money can be saved and used for bus service next year, they said.
Mat-Su school bus workers last walked off the job when Durham and the union failed to reach an initial contract agreement or address worker concerns — including bus safety — after five months of negotiations.
That strike, which lasted about six weeks, followed months of reduced bus service caused by a driver shortage and led to an increase in absenteeism as parents and guardians struggled to transport students to school.
-- Contact Amy Bushatz at contact@matsusentinel.com