Parents in Tacoma are left scrambling to find a way to get their students to class for the third day in a row. Wednesday morning 22 bus drivers for special needs students in Tacoma Public Schools called out of work.
District spokesperson Dan Voelpel said that on Monday, 24 of the 56 drivers employed by the district called out. On Tuesday, 26 called out. The drivers are used exclusively for picking up students with special needs, Voelpel said.
Tacoma Public Schools also has a contract with First Student, a service that picks up a majority of the district's other students. Those routes and drivers are not a part of this call out.
Voelpel said the district is aware that the union representing the affected drivers has been seeking an increase in pay following the widely-publicized teacher strikes that delayed the start of this school year. That union, Operating Engineers Local 286, is under contract with Tacoma Public Schools until August 2020, Voelpel said.
A letter obtained by KING 5 from the union to bus drivers says the union hasn't coordinated the call outs and does not condone it.
The letter also said if an employee called out not because they were sick but because of "some type of concerted activity," the driver was violating the collective bargaining agreement and was expected to return to work or face disciplinary action.
Multiple calls to the union were not returned Tuesday.
Voelpel said the district has not heard from the union and is not currently negotiating a new contract.
“We’re in a budget reduction mode,” he said.
Some of the drivers who have not called out are picking up extra shifts to try and help get those students to school, Voelpel said. The district is asking the parents to be patient while they work things out.
