The driver shortage for New York City’s school buses looms as a major hurdle as the first day of school approaches.
Michael Cordiello, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1181, which accounts for about half of the drivers operating the city’s extensive yellow bus system, said the worker shortage that has plagued school bus systems across the country as well. it is affecting the Greater Apple.
Cordiello indicated that retirements have skyrocketed since the start of the pandemic, while hiring has stopped.
The union boss added that the bus companies where its members work registered 277 retirements in 2019. In that year they hired approximately 800 new workers. Retirements increased to 350 in 2020, while new hires dropped to around 400.
This year, for the first time, retirements are outpacing new hires, with 244 retirements this year to date and just 220 new hires, according to the union leader.
The Education Department denied any widespread shortages, noting that the Cordiello union represents half of the city’s roughly 16,000 school bus workers.
“Currently we are not concerned with staffing the buses, in part thanks to fair compensation and generous benefits from the city,” the DOE said. Daily News.
“Safe transportation for our children to and from school is crucial, and we will continue to work with our labor partners to support their staffing efforts.”
School districts across the country face a shortage of school bus workers as drivers lost their jobs during the pandemic or switched to higher-paying jobs at companies such as UPS and FedEx, the Washington Post reported. Some districts are even delaying the start of school due to shortages.
Cordiello blamed part of the shortage on the city’s inability to keep up “with rising wages” in other professions, noting that it has been decades since school bus workers had pay parity with MTA workers.
The city’s sprawling yellow bus system typically transports some 150,000 students to and from school every day, many of them with significant disabilities, and is operated by a mosaic of private providers who are scheduled to receive more than $ 1.4k. million in funding this year.
Representatives for several bus companies declined to comment on staffing levels.
The first days of school bus service are often chaotic, with late buses and scrambled assignments, and this year’s shortages could pose additional problems, Cordiello said.
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