Bus drivers in Massachusetts school district strike for new contract


May 8 (UPI) -- School bus drivers in Marlborough, Mass., went on strike Monday leaving hundreds of parents to find rides to school for their children, while a work stoppage was avoided in Farmington and Westborough.

Teamster Local 170 negotiators talked with transportation vendor North Reading Transportation Bus, Inc. through Sunday night in hopes to reach a deal, but efforts fell short in Marlborough.

"We are physically on strike in Marlborough," Local 170 business manager Jim Marks said. "We will be on strike until we resolve the contract. We are hoping NRT brings an offer back to the table that will be responsible and good for the drivers, and we will go from there."

Drivers in Westborough, though, opted to come to work on Monday without a contract, but Marks declined to give an update on their negotiations other than to say the union members are "not on strike at this time."

There was a breakthrough in Farmington, with Teamsters and NRT settling on pact details there.

"Potentially, we could have had thousands of students not come to school for the duration that the strike may have lasted," said Framingham Public Schools Superintendent Robert Tremblay.

"And there might have been steps taken from there. Fortunately, as we understand it and heard it all together, in real time, that is not the case. But we were prepared for the worst, hoping for the best. And as it turns out, the best has come to fruition."

NRT said in a statement it is working to get contracts with Marlborough and Westborough drivers resolved as quickly as possible.

"The attention now shifts to the Marlborough and Westborough contracts, where the dedicated NRT team continues to focus on their number-one priority: transporting children to and from school safely every day," the bus company said.