“Everybody here wants to get back to work; it’s going to take the community coming together” School bus strike heads into 2nd week

It’s been over a week since Mat-Su school bus drivers walked off the job in response to contract negotiations with Durham Bus Services, and there does not appear to be an end as negotiations failed on February 3, when the Teamsters Local 959 reached out to Durham to settle the dispute following a show of support at last week’s Matanuska Susitna Borough School District school board meeting.

Teamsters had again reached out to Durham for negotiations, scheduled for this Wednesday morning. In a statement released from Local 959, the teamsters said they were eager to make progress in negotiations and resolve the labor dispute.

However, Patrick FitzGerald, a representative for Local 959 said that Durham pulled out, saying, “Durham has canceled negotiations, stating that their team is not available.” The meeting had been set up as a teleconference since Durham’s management team was out of state.

“We’ve let them know we’re available day, night, weekend,” said Teamsters representative Kelsey Taylor.

Edward Flavin, a representative for National Express, the parent company for Durham, said in a statement: “While we were hoping to have better news to share of significant progress to end the strike, we can confirm that we will meet with Union representatives tomorrow (Thursday) afternoon to continue negotiations. We look forward to meeting and will continue to bargain and negotiate in good faith toward a resolution.

We hope Union representatives will review and accept our offer so we can focus on getting our students to and from school safely each day.”

“Everybody here wants to get back to work. It’s going to take the community coming together, and the school board leaning into this thing to get Durham to commit to the community, be part of the community. Because right now, it doesn’t feel like they are,” said Taylor.

Meanwhile, striking school bus drivers and monitors remain on the picket lines, but also remain unified in their commitment to providing safe transportation to the students and families in the community.

“The most important thing we do is carry our kids, my kids, your kids, and this was the worst rollout we’ve seen in 4 years,” says Lambert, who first started driving buses back in the early 1990’s. “I drove for Mayflower, then Laidlaw after that,” he says before taking a long gap in driving, then returned to it in 2019, driving for First Student before Durham was awarded the contract at the end of the last school year.

“In my recollection, I’ve never seen something roll out like this, so completely unprepared,” he says, referring to the often chaotic first few weeks of the current school year, when students were on the wrong buses and communication between the community, dispatch, and drivers was called into question. One family had to call the police after their child had not been dropped off and no one was able to communicate where the student was until hours had passed.

“For a company this size, with the reputation of being the second best in the country, the supposed rapport down in the lower 48, to handle something like this feels unprofessional.”

When asked how long the drivers are prepared to remain on the picket lines, Lambert said, “I know for myself, and everyone, we’re prepared to do what it takes. What we want to do is get back to work.”

Drivers on strike are not receiving a paycheck and are ineligible to receive unemployment insurance.

“A union is made up of its members and the membership has spoken. The members that have been showing up here are showing up because they want our student transportation to be better. They’ve been working with Durham before school even started to push that,” said Taylor, who adds that they have reached out to the school board for assistance.

“The feedback from the community has been amazingly positive. People are approaching them with questions and support. Local businesses are reaching out.” One such local business is Joint Chiropractic, who Taylor said offered free adjustments to anyone on the picket line.

“I can’t tell you how overwhelming it’s been from the community,” added Lambert, “It’s really good to see the support of the community and those who work and live in this community. It’s needed.”

“We get it, we understand what we’re doing, why we’re out here.”

“The power of unity cannot be overstated enough because there’s so much that can take place. That’s why it’s important that we’re all involved in this-the school bus workers, those in the community, the parents, teachers, school workers, the school district, the administration-it’s going to require all of us, and that’s where the unity comes in. We’re seeing that on a regular basis down here,” said Lambert.

“This is a family down here,” said Taylor.

The strike originated as drivers and attendants have cited ongoing bus safety issues, failure to recruit and retain needed school bus drivers and staff, and lack of safe facilities in the bus yard.

Phone calls to the Durham Bus Yard in Wasilla were not returned as of this publication, though on its Mat-Su Facebook page, they say that they have addressed some of the safety concerns, stating “We utilized pole lights that illuminate the entire yard; Durham’s fleet of 179 vehicles is composed of 2022 models, except for a few borrowed buses from a sister yard that are 2020 models; block heaters for our diesel buses are on order (shortage due to supply-chain issues out of our control). Durham has brought drivers in early to start buses and give the buses time to address any cold weather issues, before drivers pull out; and that Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) conducted a facility-wide in-person review, in October, and found Durham had complied with all safety expectations.”

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman reporter Katie Stavick at katie.stavick@frontiersman.com