Mat-Su school bus workers to strike Monday

What you need to know:

• Mat-Su school bus workers will strike early Monday, stopping daily transportation for more than 18,000 students served by Durham School Services. Schools in the Upper Valley and Glacier View will not be affected because they use alternate bus contractors.
• Union officials said they announced the walkout ahead of Monday so families can make alternate transportation plans.
• About 230 union members voted to authorize the strike after contract negotiations with Durham stalled last month. The previous contract expired Feb. 4, and disputes center on medical screening costs, wages, paid cancellation days and training standards, union officials said last week.

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PALMER — Mat-Su school bus workers will go on strike early next week, four days before students head out for spring break, officials with the union representing the workers announced Tuesday.

The walkout will pause daily school transportation for the district’s more than 18,000 students until workers reach a contract agreement with the district’s main school bus operator.

The strike will begin early Monday before morning student pickup, officials with Teamsters Local 959 said in a statement. It affects all student transportation to and from schools served by Durham School Services.

The strike does not affect bus service to and from Glacier View School, Su-Valley Jr./Sr. High School, or Willow, Trapper Creek or Talkeetna elementary schools, which use alternate bus contractors.

Spring break starts Friday, March 6. Students return to classrooms March 16.

Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District officials said they will work to arrange temporary busing for the district’s approximately 800 special education students, but putting alternate drivers in place takes time.

The work stoppage comes as contract negotiations between the bus operator and the union remain at a standstill. The most recent contract between the union and Durham expired Feb. 4.

About 230 Durham employees are union members, including bus drivers, monitors and attendants, union officials said.

Workers voted last month to authorize the strike. The union issued a 10-day strike notice to Durham last week.

Union officials said Tuesday that Durham representatives refused to meet for negotiations this week.

Officials with Summit School Services, which owns Durham, said Wednesday that they agreed to meet with the union and a federal mediator March 17 and 18 — dates proposed by the union. Those dates were selected Jan. 27, they said.

Contract disagreements center on paid cancellation days and wages — particularly for monitors and attendants — standards for training, safety and professional development, and whether workers must pay out of pocket for additional medical screenings, according to a Teamsters statement published last week.

“This unfortunate work stoppage is the result of Durham’s unwillingness to make the movement needed to reach an agreement, its failure to promptly return to the bargaining table, and its unwillingness to timely provide information requested by the union,” Teamsters officials said in a statement Tuesday.

Durham officials said the union’s demands also include additional health care contributions and pensions for part-time employees. They said they have offered raises for senior drivers, a future increase to starting wages, and plan to continue covering 75% of health care premiums.

“Durham will continue to bargain in good faith and will take every lawful step to prevent an avoidable strike. Our focus remains on reaching a fair agreement and maintaining uninterrupted service for the families we proudly serve,” Durham spokesman Edward Flavin said in a statement Wednesday.

Mat-Su school bus workers last went on strike in 2023, walking out without warning in the middle of a school day and leaving families and school administrators scrambling to arrange rides home.

Union officials pledged last month to warn families before a new walkout.

“We made a promise to the families of the Mat-Su Valley they will have ample time to prepare for a work stoppage. Letting them know now is a promise we made and kept,” union spokesperson Patrick Fitzgerald said in a statement Tuesday.

Mat-Su School District officials said the news is “disappointing.”

“We encourage the Teamsters to continue providing services and to engage in the bargaining session scheduled with Durham on March 17,” Mat-Su School District spokesman John Notestine said in a statement Tuesday.

— Contact Amy Bushatz at contact@matsusentinel.com

This story was updated Feb. 25 to include additional information from Durham School Services and Mat-Su School District officials.