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Montreal school bus drivers begin 2-day strike

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Montreal school bus drivers strike
WATCH ABOVE: Thousands of Montreal parents scrambled to get their kids to school as unionized Autobus Transco employees began a two day strike Tuesday. Global's Dan Spector reports – Jan 30, 2018

Thousands of elementary and secondary students in Montreal will have to find another way to get to school Tuesday and Wednesday due to a strike by school bus drivers.

More than 300 unionized drivers with Autobus Transco will stage a two-day walkout in a contract dispute over wages after voting 98 per cent in favour of a strike last week.

READ MORE: Montreal school bus drivers threatening to strike next week over low salaries

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The union, Transco-CSN, and the employer met Monday to try to resolve the impasse without success.

The union says the employer has offered a wage freeze for the first two years in a new contract, then raises the next three years at just 50 per cent of the inflation rate.

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The dispute will affect some 15,000 students from four school boards across Montreal as well as a private school.

On Montreal’s South Shore, however, another labour dispute involving school bus drivers has been averted.

Unifor said a tentative agreement has been ratified by 78 per cent for drivers and all of the mechanics who service the Marie-Victorin School Board.

— with files from The Canadian Press

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