School bus drivers' strike ends at Transco, easing parents' carpool headaches

In this photo taken using a drone, school buses are seen in a lot in Ottawa on Monday, April 18, 2022. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press)

Transco school buses in Montreal are expected to be back on the road by Monday.

Union workers with Transco school bus company have accepted a negotiation proposal submitted by a conciliator, voting 69.4 per cent in favour of the settlement, which was submitted Wednesday.

The terms of the proposal include a 43 per cent pay increase over the six-year term of the new collective agreement, retroactive to July 1, 2022.

"During this period, our current weekly salary of $634 will rise to $907 on July 1, 2027. We also won an increase in our vacation scale to 10 per cent after the 15th year of service, as well as a 6th day of sick leave in 2025," said Carole Laplante, president of STTT-CSN, in a news release.

The union, which represents 350 school bus drivers, has been on strike since Oct. 31, 2023.

Transportation headaches

Some 15,000 students in Montreal's school service centres and school boards have not had school transportation since then. The strike affected kids at the English Montreal and Lester B. Pearson school boards, the Montreal and Marguerite-Bourgeoys service centres, as well as Collège Sainte-Anne.

Some parents have been organizing carpooling to share transportation duties, but it’s not been easy to make do, said parent Helen Sanders.

“All the parents who were at our bus stop all got together and started organizing who could pick up in the mornings, who could pick up in the afternoons,” said parent Helen Sanders. “But it’s really complicated because kids have different schedules, some of them are in shared custody, some of them aren’t coming home, some are sick. For people who work, it’s been incredibly burdensome.”

The union said it expects service to return for those students on Monday after March break.

Susan Knox, who has been driving for Transco about a dozen years, she says they went into this strike wanting not only a wage increase but also insurance benefits.

They did receive the increase, but no insurance benefits.

Knox said she’s happy to get back to work, but says it's a job that is still not fairly appreciated.

"So for us, to work for $634 a week, it’s not [feasible]. You need your first aid, you need your métier unique in Quebec. You’ve got to do your road test every year. You have upgrading every year. You have to go in and watch there safety videos. You have to do all this stuff. For me, it’s not a very well-paying job considering the responsibility that goes along with it," she said.

A union representative said there are still chronic shortages of bus drivers.

- With files from The Canadian Press.