Striking school bus drivers in Montreal increase pressure on their employer

With much of the Quebec public sector labour dispute close to being settled, striking school bus drivers from one company servicing thousands of Montreal students want to draw attention to their cause.

Montreal drivers who work for Transco have been on strike since Oct. 31, 2023, affecting more than 16,000 students in the Centre de services scolaire de Montréal, the English Montreal School Board, the Commission scolaire Lester-B.-Pearson and the Centre de services scolaire Marguerite-Bourgeoys.

“We want to have them pressure the owner of the company,” union spokesperson Marcel Boudreau said during a protest by the drivers outside an office for the Centre de services scolaire de Montréal in the city’s east end.

The main sticking point: wages.

“Eighteen months ago the government gave a raise for the contracts for each bus route,” Boudreau said, “and that raise was intended to raise the salary of the drivers.”

That agreement with bus operators just before the start of fall classes in 2022 staved off service disruptions then. These workers are asking for a 53 per cent wage increase over six years. They wonder why the company is not meeting their demands.

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“Negotiations are going poorly,” Boudreau said. “We don’t seem to feel any goodwill from them. The company seems to have taken the money and to (be) raising up its margin of profits.”

They have been negotiating since fall 2022. The union stresses that many drivers are hurting, some even being forced to use food banks.

“A school bus driver makes about $25,000 a year, which is not a living wage,” CSN president Caroline Senneville pointed out.

In the meantime, parents say it’s been a challenge. Still, some do take the side of the drivers.

“We understand the situation,” said Justine Lebeau, a parent in Little Burgundy. “I think it’s difficult for the bus drivers who are really nice and there every day of the school year.”

Her neighbour Rob Cole agrees.

“We’re just hoping the school board puts some pressure on Transco and say, ‘Look, let’s get this thing resolved,’ you know? It’s been two months now.”

The Lester B. Pearson School Board plans to compensate affected parents $7 per child, per day, retroactive to Oct. 31, not including strike or pedagogical days.

Global News did not hear back from Transco. The union says negotiations are ongoing.