School bus driver and monitor labor activity continues to shape the student transportation landscape as workforce shortages and rising operational pressures persist.

Across North America, workers and unions are pushing for higher wages, stronger benefits, and improved working conditions, while districts and contractors navigate contract negotiations and organizing efforts in the school transportation sector.

Alaska Durham Workers on Strike After Failed Negotiations

About 230 school bus drivers, monitors, and attendants employed by Durham School Services in Alaska’s Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District have been on strike since Monday, Mar. 2, according to Teamsters Local 959, as contract negotiations continue to stall.

The walkout has paused most daily bus transportation for the district’s more than 18,000 students, though routes operated by other contractors are not affected. The strike follows the Feb. 4 expiration of the previous labor agreement between the company and the union.

According to the Mat-Su Sentinel, workers voted in January to authorize the strike. The union issued a 10-day strike notice to Durham in February.

Union officials claim the disputes center on wages, paid cancellation days, training standards, medical screening costs, and other contract provisions, and allege that Durham has not returned to the bargaining table. Durham’s parent company, Summit School Services, previously said it is available to meet later in March with a federal mediator present.

According to the Frontiersman, Teamsters representatives also said employees recently discovered their health insurance coverage had been canceled, which they claim occurred without advance notice. Federal law generally allows employers to suspend benefit payments during a strike after a contract expires.

The Mat-Su School District has called the situation “disappointing” and urged both sides to continue negotiations.

Wage Dispute Leads to Ontario School Bus Driver Strike

School bus drivers at Alouette Bus Lines in Ontario, represented by United Steelworkers (USW) Local 2020, have been on strike since February after overwhelmingly rejecting the company’s contract offer in two votes, according to union officials.

The dispute centers on wages. Drivers in the Nipissing–Parry Sound region currently earn $18.11 per hour, while the union is seeking $21.10 in the first year, followed by $1 increases in each of the next two years under a proposed three-year agreement.

Union leaders say the request reflects a livable wage for the region and argue that low pay is affecting the recruitment and retention of drivers. They have also called on Ontario’s ministers of education and labour to help facilitate discussions.

USW Local 2020 said it remains willing to return to the bargaining table to reach a resolution.

New York Durham Workers Join Teamsters

Over 90 workers at Durham School Services in Watervliet, N.Y., voted in favor of Teamsters representation, becoming the newest members of Local 294. According to a release, the group organized to win “better working conditions, improved wages and benefits, and a stronger voice on the job.”

"We are so proud of our newest members, and the courage and resolve they showed during this organizing campaign," said Thomas Quackenbush, president of Teamsters Local 294. "These are essential workers who keep our community running, and we will make sure their first contract reflects the instrumental role they play in Watervliet."

The group consists of bus drivers and monitors who first began their organizing campaign in November 2025.

Teamsters Local 294 represents workers across upstate New York.