School bus driver strike in western Quebec heading towards a fourth week

About 16,000 students are without transportation to and from schools in Gatineau and the Pontiac after school bus drivers went on strike.

Approximately 300 drivers with Autobus Lasalle, Autobus Campeau, and Bigras Transport went on strike at the beginning of May.

Contract talks have stalled for three weeks over wages and contract length demands.

"It was not enough for the drivers and is below the cost of living," Teamsters Quebec Local 106 union representative Denis Ouellette says.

"So the cost of living was 6.8 per cent and they were only offered five per cent. The company wants a six-year collective agreement. It's a bit long considering all that has happened in the past three years."

Jacques Masseau has been a school bus driver in the Pontiac for 31 years for Autobus Lasalle. He tells CTV News he feels disrespected and under appreciated by his company.

"A truck driver that drives and is making more money than I am an hour. I'm supposed to be driving, for the province of Quebec, the most precious cargo there is, and I'm not paid for it. I'm not paid enough for it."

The bussing companies as well as Quebec's Ministry of Education did not respond to CTV News request for comment on the strike.

Warden of the Pontiac Jane Toller says she is concerned the strike has lasted as long as it has.

"I did write a letter to the Ministry of Education that was received earlier this week. I'm confident that by next week they'll be back at the table negotiating."

The situation is also leaving many families in rural Quebec to bear the burden of school transportation at the tail end of the semester.

Shawville resident Veronique Emilie Jong Coate has two children that go to school out of town. She started a carpool with other families to help offset the cost of driving.

"One hundred and sixty kilometres a day is not cheap, especially with the price of gas and the fact that I drive a truck," Coate tells CTV News.

"Two of the kids I'm going to be carpooling next week are kids that were out of school up until now."

She adds that a trip to and from school in the morning and afternoon takes two and a half hours, adding up to over 12 hours of driving her kids to school each week.

"What's the other option? Not let my kids go to school and not do their year-end exams."

Crystal Dubeau and Richard Lance live in Otter Lake and have three children that attend school in nearby towns.

They also run a restaurant and cafe in Otter Lake and say sometimes they have to choose between their business and their kids missing school.

"It's taking too much time and resources," Dubeau says.

"And the days that we go down to the city for supplies, we can't send them to school because we won't be back in time to get them."

Lance adds that the strike is frustrating as the family sees it carrying on through the end of the school year.

"It's their education, that's the main thing. I don't know what's going to come about with this."