Bus drivers call in... leave kids at school

[Brandon]

Bus driver job action strands IPS students - 13 WTHR Indianapolis

Really?


The only thing I will give the bus drivers credit for is leaving the kids at school and not on a corner. That is it though.

 

[actaeon277]

Well, when you strike, that means you stop.
They didn't leave the kids in route.
The school system knew about it.
Maybe, they should have went into arbitration, or negotiation.
School bus drivers don't make a crap load of money to pay back thousands.

 

[Brandon]

I think they went the wrong way with this.

 

[Indy317]

A good way to get the point across. Fact is, this is the contract firm, not direct IPS employed drivers. You see this more and more, where privatization occurs. I knew an IPS employed driver and she said they make decent money, plus benefits. This was ten years ago, so maybe things have changed. She was at the $15-$18/hour level, but you only work the normal route, but she said extra hours were available for things like field trips, sports stuff, etc.. She also said summer work was available, just not as much.

I think the contract employees get paid way less, much less, and I doubt benefits are as good (if even offered). I see this as just another example of people upset with the CEO:bottom rung employee pay scale ratio. The big wigs get paid a ton of public tax dollars, and they hoard as much as they can for their personal bank accounts. Most employees make just enough to pay the bills, any concept of saving anything meaningful just isn't possible. So now they owe money and have nothing to give. Doesn't really surprise me. They talked about changing unemployment for plant closing type times one or two years ago.

 

[churchmouse]

A good way to get the point across. Fact is, this is the contract firm, not direct IPS employed drivers. You see this more and more, where privatization occurs. I knew an IPS employed driver and she said they make decent money, plus benefits. This was ten years ago, so maybe things have changed. She was at the $15-$18/hour level, but you only work the normal route, but she said extra hours were available for things like field trips, sports stuff, etc..

I think the contract employees get paid way less, much less, and I doubt benefits are as good (if even offered). I see this as just another example of people upset with the CEO:bottom rung employee pay scale ratio. The big wigs get paid a ton of public tax dollars, and they hoard as much as they can for their personal bank accounts.

More truth here than folks realize. Still the wrong thing to do in a busing world. We live a 5 minute walk from the local IPS school and they were going to send my son all the hell way across town (45/55 minute buss ride) for Kindergarten. Wrong...Catholic school. Yes, a lot of money but they went with folks they knew all the way through and were never subjected to politics or union crap.

 

[MrsGungho]

Well, when you strike, that means you stop.
They didn't leave the kids in route.
The school system knew about it.
Maybe, they should have went into arbitration, or negotiation.
School bus drivers don't make a crap load of money to pay back thousands.

The school system may have known but they contract the busing out.. Durham should have been on top of this instead of leaving kids stranded at school.
Many drivers drove anyway, many did not.
the crux of this issue is the STATE wants their money back for unemployment the drivers were not entitled to.

Indiana's Department of Workforce Development says a recently passed unemployment reform bill makes workers who are sent home because of normally scheduled shutdowns ineligible for unemployment benefits.

 

[Roadie]

A good way to get the point across. Fact is, this is the contract firm, not direct IPS employed drivers. You see this more and more, where privatization occurs. I knew an IPS employed driver and she said they make decent money, plus benefits. This was ten years ago, so maybe things have changed. She was at the $15-$18/hour level, but you only work the normal route, but she said extra hours were available for things like field trips, sports stuff, etc.. She also said summer work was available, just not as much.

I think the contract employees get paid way less, much less, and I doubt benefits are as good (if even offered). I see this as just another example of people upset with the CEO:bottom rung employee pay scale ratio. The big wigs get paid a ton of public tax dollars, and they hoard as much as they can for their personal bank accounts. Most employees make just enough to pay the bills, any concept of saving anything meaningful just isn't possible. So now they owe money and have nothing to give. Doesn't really surprise me. They talked about changing unemployment for plant closing type times one or two years ago.

The school, nor their employer, decided what the State would or would not pay in unemployment. They stranded kids, and inconvenienced parents for something the State decided.

They should be fired..

 

[Brandon]

The school, nor their employer, decided what the State would or would not pay in unemployment. They stranded kids, and inconvenienced parents for something the State decided.

They should be fired..

This.
They went the wrong way trying to make their point.

I don't think hourly rates or extra hours apply to the unemployment funds they were collecting.

 

[Mr Evilwrench]

I've been on all three sides, a parent in the system, a taxpayer supporting the system, and a driver. I would NEVER leave the kids stranded, no matter what. There are ways to work the rest out. This is just childish.

 

[Darral27]

I agree it seems pretty childish just to leave the kids stranded. It did nothing to help their cause and very well could have hurt their cause.

Not to thread jack but here is a quote I found interesting.

but must have a government-issued photo identification to do so. Otherwise, students will remain at their school until a bus is available to take them home.

Funny they can require a photo ID of people to pick up their kids but not vote.

 

[donnie1581]

The school should have a substitute bus driver on hand to things like this. What if the driver had a family emergency and couldn't run the afternoon route?

 

[Roadie]

The school should have a substitute bus driver on hand to things like this. What if the driver had a family emergency and couldn't run the afternoon route?

"Driver"? Try driverS plural, as in over 80..

 

[Colts]

Not to thread jack but here is a quote I found interesting.

but must have a government-issued photo identification to do so. Otherwise, students will remain at their school until a bus is available to take them home.
.

So were the kids detained, even if they could have walked home or someone else could have picked them up?

 

[churchmouse]

I agree it seems pretty childish just to leave the kids stranded. It did nothing to help their cause and very well could have hurt their cause.

Not to thread jack but here is a quote I found interesting.

but must have a government-issued photo identification to do so. Otherwise, students will remain at their school until a bus is available to take them home.

Funny they can require a photo ID of people to pick up their kids but not vote.

Not surprising at all. Voting and bus driving....ID's

Childish is one way to describe this action but not how I define it.

 

[donnie1581]

"Driver"? Try driverS plural, as in over 80..

WOW! I wasn't paying attention. I thought it was just one driver that did this.

I failed to read the article.

 

[MrsGungho]

The school should have a substitute bus driver on hand to things like this. What if the driver had a family emergency and couldn't run the afternoon route?

the school is paying a contractor a lot of money to hire people to drive these buses. so explain to me why the school needs to keep sustitutes on hand? also, how are they suppose to gain access to the buses as they don't own them, Durham School Services owns them, the contractor.

 

[donnie1581]

the school is paying a contractor a lot of money to hire people to drive these buses. so explain to me why the school needs to keep sustitutes on hand? also, how are they suppose to gain access to the buses as they don't own them, Durham School Services owns them, the contractor.

Like I stated above your post, I didn't read the article and thought it was just one bus driver.

 

[MrsGungho]

Like I stated above your post, I didn't read the article and thought it was just one bus driver.

you were posting while I was typing,

 

[donnie1581]

you were posting while I was typing,

Ahh! okay that explains it. lol.

 

[Denny347]

The news articles are poorly written (imagine that). They just stated that they went on strike over unemployment benefits but what are the details?