Alan Jackson is the director of Renfrew County Bus Lines and spokesperson for the group of bus companies. (Sherry Haaima photo)
While Renfrew County’s bus operators settled for less than they were hoping for, they are nonetheless excited to get back to work, says Alan Jackson, director of Renfrew County Bus Lines and spokesperson for the group of bus companies.
Bus operators and the Renfrew County Joint Transportation Consortium announced late Monday that they had reached an ‘agreement in principle’ in the contract dispute that has disrupted transportation since the start of school.
Jackson said he could not divulge numbers but that operators conceded and accepted the consortium’s last offer.
It’s not where they wanted to be, he said, but they do understand the financial restrictions school boards are facing.
It’s something the province is going to have to address, said Jackson.
And while Monday’s announcement indicated the deal consists of multi-year agreements that at minimum will run until the end of the 2028-2029, if nothing changes, this situation will be repeated.
A lack of money coming in, millions of dollars of inventory just sitting and out-of-work drivers are among the reasons Jackson said bus companies opted to settle.
Bus companies will ultimately have to look at streamlining somewere to manage the ever-increasing costs of operation, said Jackson.
For now, it’s all hands on deck preparing to get buses rolling again, something that could potentially take three weeks.
Jackson explains that route sheets will be printed, drivers will be scheduled to review and do dry runs to ensure pick up and drop off times work, and then have any discrepancies corrected. All this while legal teams examine the contract.
The more than month-long disruption in service means drivers might not be as readily available.
Jackson said the operators are sympathetic to the challenges students and their families have faced and they’re doing their best to get back on the roads as soon as possible.
(Written by Sherry Haaima)