In February, school bus drivers declared an unlimited general strike claiming better conditions. As a result, 29 buses are out of service.

The 85 drivers of the companies Autobus Tremblay et Paradis and Autobus B.R claim better conditions, such as at least 25 hours of work each week. This strike affects students from Quebec and La Rive-Sud.

This strike has a big impact on a lot of students. About 6000 students from Quebec and la Rive-Sud don’t currently have transport to their schools. Unfortunately, it can last longer than you can expect since it’s an unlimited general strike.

This strike touched three school service centers and one school board. The School Service Center des Naviguateurs has 384 students with no transport spread over nine schools. In addition, The School Service Center de la Capitale leaves 1600 students transportless spread over 26 schools. Also, 1338 students coming from The School Service Center Des Découvreurs are touched by this strike. Finally, The Central Quebec School Board has 26 paths unavailable right now because of the strike.

There are 3 school buses at La Camaradière currently unavailable because of the situation. They are numbered 15, 46, and 190.

The two companies claim that the strike will continue until an agreement between management and labour is signed. A meeting was held on Wednesday just before the strike, which started on Thursday, the 16th of February, but no agreement was made.

A previous strike occurred from January 30 to February 3 without success. They stopped it but didn’t get any attention from their employers. As a result, they started another one, and for now, there is no transport, and it can last for a long period.

This strike was aggravated by the fact that there was a big storm on Friday, the 17th of February, and the schools didn’t close. A lot of parents needed to take their kids to school because of the strike, and it was very dangerous.

A lot of parents were frustrated by the situation. “It was very dangerous, so having to take my child to school made the situation even worse. I had to take a big detour, so I drove for a long time increasing my risks of being in an accident.”

Here’s a short statement from a student at La Camaradière touched by this strike. “It doesn’t matter to me, but it is annoying for my parents since they have to change their schedule just to manage to take me to school.”

“I have to wake up way earlier than I used to because my parents work early. I have to go with them otherwise, I have no way of going to school.” said another student with no transport for an unlimited time.

All the people touched by the strike hope it will be over very soon. If it can be over before the end of the Spring break, it would be very nice for these people.