MARLBORO, MASS. (WHDH) - Bus drivers in Marlboro are striking for the second day in a row on Tuesday after their union and their bus company failed to reach an agreement on a new contract over the weekend and no negotiations took place Monday.
The bus company, NRT Bus, operates in three other area districts — Marlboro, Westboro, and Framingham. According to Teamsters Local 170, bus drivers in Framingham struck a deal Sunday night to avoid a strike and drivers in Westboro have not planned a strike this week despite having no deal yet.
In Marlboro, school is still on during the strike, leaving many parents feeling frustrated as they worked to find another way to get their children to school.
“Today is the longest I took to drop them off, there’s so much traffic everywhere,” said Rodney Canales on Monday morning. “This is not safe either.”
“We did try, it was hard,” said Tamalla Abbasova. “There were a lot of cars, a lot of traffic, and the kids are frustrated, they were literally just napping in the car because it was taking so long to get to school. So yeah it was pretty tense, very very tense.”
As traffic backed up around dismissal Monday afternoon, parents continued to share their thoughts.
“I think it’s terrible,” said Jenny Abbondanzio. “This is a lot of traffic and our kids are suffering.”
“It’s a pain,” another driver said. “Definitely a pain.”
Under a contingency plan, students who live within a mile and a half of their schools were expected to walk or get a ride.
Officials said a limited number of outside buses were also called in for certain areas. Parents were notified Sunday if those buses were coming to their neighborhoods.
The union has said pay, health care, and benefits were among the issues with the current contract.
NRT has said it gave bus drivers in Marlboro a nearly 31 percent raise about four months ago, from $26 to $34 per hour, and claim the union wants an additional 22 percent raise on top of that.
Bus drivers, however, said the raise did not apply to all bus drivers, only approximately 52 who drive the traditional big yellow school buses. About 11 drivers of “mini buses” and “vans” that often transport special needs students were not included in the raise, and the union is fighting to get those drivers a raise too.
“We didn’t get touched, we had nothing,” said mini bus driver Carol Willoughby. “So that’s kind of a kick in the teeth, and we are just looking for a fair wage to bring us up to where we should be, and there was no movement.”
The drivers also said NRT has been slashing hours to compensate since the raise was given in January, so they don’t feel like the raise is being felt.
Officials said the strike sidelined about two thirds of the buses that would normally take middle school and high school students to and from school Monday. Beyond the limited number of buses in operation, volunteers and police helped some students walk to school via walking routes published ahead of time by the district.
“We are very happy with the number of students that were able to attend school in a safe and orderly manner today,” said Marlborough Public Schools Superintendent Mary Murphy “Thank you to everyone who has helped us keep our students in school. This is a wonderful community and we have come together to overcome this challenge.”
“We are still gathering the data from this morning and looking at adjustments that can be made for tomorrow if the strike continues,” she added.
There are approximately 4,900 students enrolled in Marlborough Public Schools, Murphy said.
On Monday, over 83 percent of students attended school, which is approximately 87 percent of the average daily attendance, according to Murphy.
A small number of striking bus drivers remained outside 1 Lt. Charles W. Whitcomb School throughout the day Monday.
There was also a picket line in place earlier in the day outside NRT headquarters.
Negotiations broke off Sunday night with no new talks scheduled.
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