The Board of Education for Princeton City Schools approved emergency agreements Monday night with Queen City Transportation and Jimmy's Limousine Service to provide temporary bus and van transportation as an ongoing strike by First Student bus drivers continues.
The district also announced it will begin offering Metro bus passes for students in grades 7-12 starting Wednesday.
Bus drivers have been on strike since Oct. 1, pausing much of the district's yellow bus services, leaving thousands of students to find other ways to get to school each day.
The board's decision to add alternative transportation was not well received by union leadership, who are asking the school district to apply pressure to First Student to reach a deal.
"We know the kids. The kids miss us, and we miss working for the district, but the district has to step in and get involved," longtime driver and union negotiating committee member, Jammie Cobrun, told WVXU.
The union and First Student were scheduled to hold another bargaining session Tuesday.
The union has been negotiating a new labor contract with First Student, but several recent bargaining sessions have ended without a deal. Union representatives say they're seeking higher wages, calling for a $3 per hour raise for drivers in the first year of a new contract, then a $2 per hour raise each year for the following two years.
First Student says it made a "strong and generous" offer to raise driver pay, but it wasn't accepted by union leadership.
While picketing outside Princeton High School Tuesday morning, bus driver and union president, Tarell Harris, said First Student has not come close to meeting wage demands, even though union leadership conceded some of its initial contract requests.
"We're almost to the point where there's nothing to take off the table," Harris said. "At this point, we might as well just all walk away and go find a new job. But who does that really help if we go find new jobs? It sure doesn't help the taxpayer and it doesn't help the kids."
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