No new offer in Mat-Su school bus drivers’ strike as parents’ anger …

A midday school bus driver strike that sent Mat-Su Borough families scrambling to pick up their students Tuesday afternoon continued on Wednesday, as parents turned to social media to vent their frustration.

The bus contractor, Durham School Services, had made no new contract offer to the drivers’ union by Wednesday morning, according to Patrick FitzGerald, the political coordinator for the union, Teamsters Local 959. The last offer, on Monday, was rejected by 98% of the nearly 200 union members working for the company, he said.

FitzGerald said union members will continue to maintain a picket line at Durham’s motor pool, starting at 9 a.m. 

The Mat-Su district said schools will remain open during the strike, but families must transport their children to and from most buildings and after-school activities. The sprawling district serves roughly 19,000 students across a region about the size of West Virginia. 

Durham School Services is a new transportation contractor for Mat-Su schools, its 10-year contract started last year. Requests for additional information from the district and Durham’s parent company, National Express of Illinois, weren’t immediately answered Wednesday.

The district’s Facebook post Tuesday evening announcing that schools would stay open despite no bus service drew more than 150 comments, many from parents and students. Some were mad. Others, like Rachel Hart, were frustrated.

“This was a frustrating day,” wrote Hart. “As we were standing outside waiting for the bus to pick up my son- the message came through there was a strike- he missed his day as there was no time to figure out an alternative and still make it to pick up at two other schools.”

Many people questioned the district’s selection of Durham as a bus contractor, as well as its refusal to declare remote learning days as it did during December’s massive snowstorms.

“It’s been an absolute disaster having Durham as our bus service,” wrote Kristin Renee McBride. “They aren’t even located in Alaska. They bid for a contract they had no business bidding for and had no ability to uphold. Fire them!”

Denise Arndt wrote: “When the roads are not too bad, you choose remote learning….no buses and you choose in person. That decision is absolutely ridiculous and makes no sense.”

A few commenters blamed the union for the strike.

“This childish stunt was a great opportunity to show and explain to my teenage children the worthlessness of unions and union participation and that only uneducated unskilled clowns have to pay a union boss to advocate for them in the private labor market,” wrote Jarred King.

Some people mentioned safety concerns with Durham buses reported by the Associated Press. AP said those issues, reported by drivers to the union, included inadequate heaters and headlights, non-working windshield wipers and having to use their phones as flashlights to find their assigned buses in an unlit lot.

Commenter Katie Mann, who said she attends school in the district, said her bus driver told her she’d personally seen four Durham buses with damaged brakes.

“As a high schooler I would rather be late home than be on a bus with broken brakes, or a bus that was neglected,” Mann wrote.

Destinyy Wideman, who said she’s a Durham driver and union member, said the strike happened after student drop-off Tuesday so children were not left waiting at bus stops.

“Many of us are upset because people feel like we abandoned the kids, but of the two choices, we would much rather leave students at school than in the streets,” Wideman wrote.

Several people said they planned to attend a 6 p.m. Wednesday meeting of the borough’s school board. FitzGerald said union members will also be present.

Mat-Su district officials said the only schools not impacted by the strike are Glacier View, Su-Valley Jr./Sr. High School, Talkeetna Elementary, Trapper Creek Elementary and Willow Elementary.