Seattle School Bus Drivers Delay Strike

A strike by school-bus drivers in Seattle was postponed Sunday for 24 hours as union members and management scheduled another round of talks.

Dorothy Dubia, a spokesperson for Seattle Public Schools, said she was notified that if talks were not successful, the strike would begin Tuesday morning.

“This is good news because it gives our students and parents at least a little more time to make plans,” Dubia said Sunday night. “And hopefully this gives both sides more time to work out their differences, too.”

Union bus drivers on Saturday voted to strike against Laidlaw Transit Inc., the Toronto-based company contracted to transport roughly half the students attending city public schools.

The walkout by about 300 Laidlaw drivers affects roughly 12,000 students who attend schools in north Seattle. Students who ride Ryder buses are not affected.

Before the delay was announced, Barbara SchaadLamphere, president of the Seattle Council Parent Teacher and Student Association, an umbrella group for PTAs in the city, said some parents who might not be aware of the strike could find their children “stranded on street corners” waiting for buses.

“I think it’s very difficult to notify everyone in the district, especially when we have such a heavy bilingual population,” Schaad-Lamphere said Sunday. “I don’t think word is necessarily going to get out totally.”

Members of the Teamsters Local 763 voted 129-99 Saturday to reject a three-year contract proposal from Laidlaw.