Several strikes by school bus drivers, sometimes lasting a single day, sometimes longer, are currently affecting school service centers (CSS) in some cities in Quebec.
In Estrie, for example, the strike concerns 215 bus drivers in five unions, attached to the Federation of Public Service Employees, affiliated with the Confederation of National Unions (CSN).
Other carriers are also affected in certain CSS in Drummondville, Rivière-du-Loup and Montreal in part.
As a single CSS can do business with several carriers and a single carrier can have several CSS as clients, all students of a CSS are not necessarily affected by such a strike, however.
Breakdown of grants
The dispute mainly concerns salaries.
The Quebec government had granted financial assistance to transporters to offset various costs, such as the electrification of vehicles, salaries and other operating costs. The unions and employers concerned do not agree on the portion of this financial assistance that should be paid to drivers.
“We are not asking for all government assistance, no; we are asking for the fair share that goes to bus drivers,” explained Josée Dubé, president of the school transportation sector at the Federation of Public Service Employees, in an interview.
Reached by telephone, one of the main employers affected, Autobus Ideal, did not wish to comment.
Josée Dubé maintains that school bus drivers have the support of parents, despite the strike day.
“We have the recognition, respect and appreciation of parents. They are the only ones who are aware of the work we do. And they know that we deserve more. For the most part, they say they wouldn’t do it, our job: driving with a bunch of kids on the bus. Now, this recognition and this respect must also come from the carrier,” she said.