Christian Gammon-Roy
Tribune
West Nipissing parents may have to make some alternative arrangements for school transportation starting Monday, as Alouette Bus Lines drivers could be striking. On February 5, 83% of the drivers voted to reject the company’s final offer, putting them in a strike position as of Saturday, February 21. According to United Steel Workers Local 2020 President Stephanie Gunson, Alouette Bus Lines runs 67 routes, 50 of them in West Nipissing, which will affect approximately 1,900 students across the district.
Gunson explains that the contract for the bus line workers expired around August 31, and that negotiations have been ongoing since. The main sticking point, she says, has been wages. “Right now, they’re currently at $18.11 per hour, which is just above minimum wage. Considering the type of work that they do, they deserve a bit more. Alouette has a sister company in Sudbury, called Northway [Bus Lines], and they were able to ratify a collective agreement with them, getting them decent wages, but they’re just refusing to do that for Alouette,” she describes, adding that wages for drivers in Sudbury are in the $23 to $24 range.
Gunson admits that the company has offered an increase, but that it simply isn’t enough. She explains that school transportation contracts are negotiated by a consortium of school boards in the district, and Alouette alleges that the consortium isn’t able to pay more to cover the wage increase. Considering this, Gunson says that the union has reached out to Minister of Education Paul Calandra on that matter, to see about getting more funding to the school boards for transportation.
