A strike by school bus drivers servicing approximately 10,000 students across Durham region and parts of Toronto has been averted after the union representing them reached a last-minute, tentative deal with busing company First Student Canada. The deal means students at more than 100 schools in Durham region and nine schools in Toronto won't need to look for another way to get to class. Durham Student Transportation Services said in a news release that all routes serviced by First Student Ajax and First Student Brooklin will continue as usual. Unifor Local 4268 president Debbie Montgomery said the unpaid hours makes it difficult for bus companies to recruit new drivers, which leads to shortages like one that affected Toronto school boards last year. A walkout would have impacted students within the Durham Public District School Board and at the Durham Catholic School Board in Ajax, Brock, Oshawa, Pickering, Scugog, Uxbridge and Whitby plus a number of students in east-end Toronto.

Source: CBC News November 30, 2017 05:28 UTC