Schools

Did the School Bus Strike Impact You?

Did the strike affect you? Do you believe the wildcat strike was necessary, or should they not allow their concerns to affect the students?

What a morning.

There were only 30 of Boston's 650 school buses on the road this morning after the driver's went on strike. The School Department called it an "illegal work action," though it is unclear whether the union authorized the strike or if drivers took matters into their own hands. 

From the School Department web site:
"Today’s unauthorized protest appears to be connected to the Union’s ongoing opposition to changes that ensure driver safety and suitability, steps to improve on-time performance, and the new web tool that allows families to track the location of their child’s school bus in real time. At this time the protest involves approximately 600 drivers who are refusing to operate school buses today. This means most of the 33,000 students who ride school buses will be impacted."

The city's political class was quick to come down, hard, on the drivers. Both mayoral candidates put out brief statements excoriating the drivers for the work stoppage.

"It is shameful for the school bus drivers union to use our children as pawns in a political game, "said Councilor-At-Large and mayoral candidate John Connolly. 

"Kids and parents must come first. This is wrong. The bus drivers have put our children in harm’s way," said Marty Walsh.

What do you think? Are the drivers justified in taking this action? Or should a strike never affect children? If not, what other recourse do the drivers have? Let us know your thoughts—and whether you were able to get your kids to school today—in the comments below.


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