Students who rely on the bus to get to school in Marlboro, Massachusetts, had to find another way to get to class on Monday, as school bus drivers in that community went on strike.
Initially, there were three communities working on three separate, but similar, deals between the bus company NRT and the bus driver’s union Teamsters Local 170.
The union said that it all comes down to economics, wages, pension and healthcare.
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The bus driver’s union reached a deal in Framingham Sunday night with NRT – so the routes ran as normal there.
However, there’s still no deal in Marlboro and Westboro. The drivers weren't on strike early Monday morning in Westboro, but in Marlboro, they were.
It was a tense morning in Marlboro, as a small number of bus drivers crossed the picket line to try to get kids to school Monday.
Traffic around the schools stretched for miles, as many parents were forced to drive their kids in.
“This morning going up to the middle school was a little tough, traffic was backed up all the way to Hudson, so we came all the way around and dropped her off and said, 'You’ve got to walk,'” Bob Scerra said, who was stuck in backup.
“They deserve their money, everybody deserves their money, but you know, at the same time, parents need help too,” said Rosalita Dolcine, who was late for work dropping off her child.
The bus driver’s union was unable to come to terms with bus company, saying the sticking point is the lack of a raise for van and mini-bus drivers, as well as bus monitors.
“We were $24, big bus was $26 - and all the sudden they got their raise to $34, and we were left behind," mini-bus driver and union negotiation team member Carol Willoughby said.
The district told students living within a mile and a half of their school they will be expected to walk, while students outside that radius will most likely have to get a ride.
“Different negotiations, different towns, Framingham stepped up," Jim Marks of Teamsters Local 170 said. "As you’ve heard before, Marlboro stepped up previously and put a new bid out, which gave the drivers of the big bus more money, but it didn’t give the drivers of the mini-buses more money, so it was a split tier, so the mini-buses were left way down here, and the big buses got a nice increase.”
The expectation is, if a deal is reached in Marlboro, a similar deal will be reached in Westboro.
Students in Marlboro are hopeful their drivers can get a fair contract and get back behind the wheel soon too.
“I think they should get a raise absolutely, so it’s great to see them standing up for themselves,” said Marlboro High senior Jake Kenney.
As of mid-day, a union rep said there were still no negotiation sessions scheduled at this point for Marlboro or Westboro.
