Valley school bus drivers and attendants declare strike

Bus drivers and attendants with the Teamsters Local 959 Union went on strike in the Mat-Su on Tuesday.

According to a statement from the Teamsters, the decision to strike was made after receiving a“last, best, final offer” from Durham School Services, the company that contracts with the Mat-Su Borough School District to provide bussing in most of the borough.

The strike began on Tuesday after all students had been dropped off at their respective schools.

Patrick FitzGerald, speaking on behalf of Teamsters Local 959, says negotiations with Durham have been going on for months, and that the membership felt the most recent offer was insufficient.  FitzGerald draws a comparison to Fairbanks North Star Borough School District, where he says drivers employed by Durham receive better wages and benefits than in the Mat-Su.

FitzGerald says the decision to time the strike after morning routes was made so that children would not be left in the cold waiting for a bus on Tuesday morning.

Later on Tuesday, the school district released a statement that says parents and emergency contacts would be responsible for transporting children to and from school beginning that afternoon.

While most schools in the Mat-Su are affected by the strike, Northern Valley schools are serviced by a different contractor, Bunker and Bunker.  The school district’s statement says bussing in the Northern Valley and Glacier View is not being affected by the strike.

Durham School Services received a ten-year contract from the Mat-Su Borough School District in 2021.  This school year has seen a shortage of drivers result in rotating bus route outages that only recently ended.