School bus drivers are on strike in the northwest Georgia city of Dalton, leaving parents and school officials scrambling to take students to and from school.
Bus drivers began manning picket lines on Monday, attacking what they say are anti-union actions by First Student, the Cincinnati-based company that contracts with Dalton schools to run buses.
The district taught its 7,500 students online on Monday. On Tuesday and Wednesday, it held class in person but ran buses for only two of its 10 schools, where students were taking state-mandated tests. District officials asked parents to bring students to other schools. Beginning Thursday, the district plans to offer a limited number of drop-off sites in neighborhoods.
Chris Crowe, vice president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1212, told the Chattanooga Times Free Press that 53 bus drivers in the district are members of the union, and as many as 40 were actively manning picket lines on Monday. First Student said 20 bus drivers had crossed picket lines and were driving buses with police protection.
The company and union have been bargaining over wages, vacation time and insurance. First Student on Monday called it “extremely unfortunate” that employees continue to strike amid bargaining.
