Still, Jabbia known as the union out in a annoyed robocall to dad and mom Friday night time, which additionally thanked dad and mom and the drivers who didn’t name out sick.
ST. TAMMANY PARISH, La. — Tensions between the St. Tammany Parish School District and its bus drivers boiled over Friday when dozens of drivers known as in sick to work.
According to the district, 62 of roughly 398 bus drivers district-wide known as in to say they might not be obtainable to take college students residence.
Parents of scholars in 14 of the district’s 55 faculties obtained robocalls informing them that their youngsters could possibly be vastly delayed in arriving residence if dad and mom couldn’t decide them up from faculty.
Some waited so long as two hours for his or her dad and mom to arrive.
Brittney Reese mentioned she was in a position to go away work to decide up her fifth-grader after she bought the decision.
“I didn’t really understand, it just said that some bus drivers aren’t running,” mentioned Reese. “So I kind of assumed maybe that’s not their bus. You know their bus is usually… she’s always running. So it took me by surprise.”
The transfer apparently took the drivers’ personal union unexpectedly, too. Brant Osborn, president of the St. Tammany Federation of Teachers and School Employees says he and veteran drivers had no concept some members have been planning a sick-out.
He mentioned he instructed Superintendent Frank Jabbia, “This was not sanctioned by the federation. And it was not. We didn’t even know.”
“I hate to hear that families were hurt by this, and I know they were. And it’s extremely frustrating,” mentioned Osborn.
Still, Jabbia known as the union out in a annoyed robocall to dad and mom Friday night time, which additionally thanked dad and mom and the drivers who didn’t name out sick.
“I want everyone to know that we have a collective bargaining agreement with our union, the St. Tammany Federation of Teachers and School Employees. And Article 18 of that agreement prohibits sick-outs, work stoppages, or strikes because we know that this will directly impact students and families,” Jabbia mentioned within the recording.
The friction between drivers and the district has been constructing for months. St. Tammany Parish is certainly one of few within the state that owns and operates its personal busses. They’re additionally accountable for sustaining them.
But they are saying the present operational pay is just not sustainable and changing into worse with current inflation.
“This is not salary, this is… these busses are extraordinarily expensive to maintain. And the state has not raised the operational paytable since 1986,” Osborn mentioned.
Bus drivers say they’re struggling to even substitute tires and the district refuses to adequately make investments.
One driver mentioned on the faculty board assembly Thursday night time, “We are working at a failing business. Not because the product, the children, are being picked up or delivered as required, but the income cannot cover the cost.”
The district has provided some stop-gap funds to maintain the drivers over till the subsequent union contract bargaining in a couple of months. But the union maintains that the quantity — $1,000 complete – is far too low.
Osborn mentioned one pair of bus tires alone is $950 earlier than tax.
While he says there are not any plans for a sick-out to proceed Monday, he says he doesn’t suppose this unsanctioned strike helped drivers within the massive image.
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