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School bus drivers joined Ontario Regional Director Katha Fortier on Monday to take their concerns with how school bus contracts are awarded directly to the Ontario Ministry of Education.
"We had a very productive meeting," Fortier said after the meeting. "They definitely heard our concerns."
The group presented Unifor's report on the school bus industry, Steering Clear: Avoiding the RFP Trap, to Education Minister Liz Sandals’ top staff and school transportation policy advisors. The report documents the race to the bottom caused by the use of Requests for Proposals to hand out school bus contracts in the province, and other concerns.
Howie Bender, the minister’s chief of staff, said the ministry will explore ways for Unifor to participate in an upcoming provincial review of the RFP process.
Montgomery said the ministry officials at the meeting listened carefully as the Unifor group outlined the many concerns facing Ontario’s school bus drivers, including sub-standard wages, unpaid work time and limited access to benefits – all of which are being further suppressed by a hypoer-competitive RFP process.
"One of the most important things to come from this meeting is that we have established a direct line of communication between drivers and the ministry," Montgomery said. "That's very important, and a big step."
Te find out more and to read Steering Clear, go to: http://www.unifor.org/en/take-action/campaigns/steering-clear
