Thousands of western Quebec families will have to change their morning routines Monday if area school bus drivers follow through on their threat to strike.
Three out of the area’s four school bus companies have unions that could strike starting Monday, a move that would affect more than 20,000 students.
“I need transportation especially in the country here, (we’re in the) middle of nowhere and it's not like the school is just down the road,” said parent Paula Weston, who added that fact would make carpooling difficult.
“For one day it's 126 kilometres to drive my three kids to and from school; over 600 kilometres a week if the strike happens.”
The drivers are asking for pay increases and guaranteed minimum hours, saying since they work both an early and mid-afternoon shift it’s very hard to get a second job.
“I can understand they want more hours and more money - it's part-time, you divide hours, it’s minimum wage,” said Weston, a former bus driver herself. “It's just hard on the parents.”
Weston said there are many low-income families in the Pontiac, so not everyone has the money or extra vehicle to bring children to school.
Schools would still be open with more supervision before and after class, but parents would have to find new ways to get their children to school.
An employee who picked up the phone at one bus company wouldn’t give CTV Ottawa her name or many details, but did say negotiations are ongoing and would likely keep going late into the night.
With a report from CTV Ottawa’s Natalie Duddridge
The four school boards affected are Draveurs, Portages-de-L'Outaouais, Western Quebec and Hauts-Bois-de-L'Outaouais – click their names to find notices of which routes will be running.
