Strike averted: Drivers, school bus company reach tentative agreement

UPDATE: After threatening to strike, members of the Bus Drivers Union came to an tentative agreement with employer STS New Mexico. This happened Wednesday afternoon after hours of negotiations between the two.

As ABC-7 has reported, bus drivers in the Las Cruces Public School District were threatening to walk-out, which would have affected more than 7,000 students throughout the district.

The union threatened to strike because it claims bus drivers are forced to drive over-crowded buses. It also claims many employees haven’t gotten a raise in years and don’t get enough sick days.

“I’m happy that we got to a point where we can all agree,” said Van Wamel, the General Manager of STS New Mexico. “The community is not going to be affected now and the kids are going to get to school on time. It’s pretty good.”

Stephanie Ly, President American Federation of Teachers NM, said “We have reached a tentative agreement.” She added no details will be given at this time and thanked the federal mediator for the negotiations.

Wamel, Ly, and Marcos Torres, President of LC Transportation Federation #6341, released the following statement: “The parties have reached an agreement that is subject to ratification by the parties. No specific detail of the tentative agreement will be released at this time. We would like to thank Dennis Teel from the Federation Mediation Service for his help in reaching this tentative agreement.”

Earlier Wednesday morning, ABC-7 asked Wamel why it was taking so long to reach an agreement, but he could not specify.

The tentative agreement still has to be voted on before any action can be taken.

Las Cruces Public Schools told ABC-7 that school buses will be picking up students Wednesday afternoon. All transportation service is following its normal schedule.

Union Organizers said employees will report to the STS bus yard on 17th street shortly after 1:30pm.

The school district said parents should continue to monitor the school district’s website www.lcps.k12.nm.us.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE:

Union members told ABC-7 a bus driver strike is ‘imminent’, after negotiations with their employer have had little progress. As ABC-7 has reported, drivers in the Las Cruces Public School District are threatening to walk out. They say they’re forced to drive over crowded buses and don’t have enough sick days.

LCPS does not hire bus drivers. They have a contract with a private company, Student Transportation Specialists. The Las Cruces Transportation Federation Local 6341 is the union that represents the drivers.

A judge granted a temporary restraining order filed by LCPS, forcing union members to drive buses until Tuesday. But Friday, LCPS board members voted to not support the injunction and the district threw out the litigation.

Now, it’s unknown if and when union members will strike. The district says over 7,000 students who take the bus to and from school will be affected.

Officials tell ABC-7 high school athletics could also be greatly impacted if the bus drivers walk out. Boys and girls baseball, softball, tennis, golf and track are heading down the stretch with critical season ending competition. But if there are no buses to transport student athletes, the district says it’ll force teams to forfeit.

“We’ll have to let them know that our teams traveling that day are not traveling, most likely forfeit the contest,” LCPS Athletic Director Earnest Viramontes said. “Then I’ve got to notify all the schools we are going to visit to make sure they understand we’re not coming.”

The district says liability concerns factor in its policy against allowing parents to drive student athletes to games. They also say renting out charter buses is out of the question.

“We got to look at it as the whole district picture, not just athletics,” Viramontes said. “And are you going to be able to get charters for everything?”

Viramontes says it’s difficult to reschedule with out of town teams. In the mean time, coaches and players are paying close attention.

“We just keep doing what we keep doing, playing hard,” Padilla said.

Negotiations are expected to continue on Wednesday.