Winnipeg School Division bus drivers back to work Friday after near-3-month strike

Bus drivers in the Winnipeg School Division will be back behind the wheel Friday after being on strike for nearly three months.

The bus drivers have been on the picket linesince the first day of school, after the division and union could not agree on a new collective bargaining agreement. Both sides reached an impasse over salaries.

On Nov. 9,United Food and Commercial WorkersLocal 832which represents 95 Winnipeg School Division bus drivers applied to the Manitoba Labour Boardto end the strike via the settlement process outlined in the Labour Relations Act. The labour board confirmed last week that the process would go ahead, and bus drivers returned to work earlier this week, the union said in a news release.

"The School Divisionwas absolutely not prepared to come back to thebargaining tableto work on a resolve to thisstrike," Bea Bruske, UFCW Local 832 secretary-treasurer, said in the release.

"Without the settlement process in the Labour Relations Act thisstrikewould go on much longer.The school division would havetobe prepared to bargain a fair contract oragree to go to binding arbitration, and as we've already seen, this employer would rather deny parents of bus service instead ofbargaining orletting a third party resolve thisstrike."

A deal is not yet finalized, but one will be worked out over the next two to three months, the union said.

On Nov. 26, the Winnipeg School Division sent a letter to parents saying it had been advisedthat the labour board agreed to move negotiations tobinding arbitration, a negotiation process that requires an independent third party to hear cases from both sides and make a decision.

The letter then outlined busing procedures for each level of the province's pandemic response system.

Although Manitoba is currently under level red restrictions, busing will follow level orange protocol, which means only "the most vulnerable students" will be bused to school, the letter says.

Parents whose children would otherwise be eligible to ride will be compensated $29 per month per child, if they are able to help get their child to school. The division will also provide options for before- and after-school care, Winnipeg Transit Peggo passes and support remote learning, the letter says.