No buses for Chignecto-Central Regional School Board students as CUPE Local 3890 on strike
Posted Jan 27, 2014 06:51:01 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
TRURO, N.S. – More than 400 bus drivers and support staff with the Chignecto Central Regional School Board in northern Nova Scotia say they’re going on strike Monday.
The members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees say the membership voted on Sunday to reject the board’s latest offer.
The union says contracting out work is the main issue in contract talks.
The school district covers a large area including Truro, Stellerton and New Glasgow.
The board says bus service will be shut down and maintenance done on an emergency basis only.
The board issued a statement saying it wants to reach a fair and reasonable deal with CUPE, but says its focus must be on educating students.
Board spokeswoman Debbie Buott-Matheson says about 17,000 of the board’s 20,000 students usually travel by bus.
She says parents are being asked to find alternate ways such as car pooling in order to get students to school.
Buott-Matheson says the board realizes that will be a challenge for a mostly rural district with 76 schools.
