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Trumbull school bus drivers say they aren't getting enough PPE

A group of school bus drivers in Trumbull participated in a caravan Wednesday to voice their concerns that they don't have enough supplies to do their job safely amid the pandemic.

News 12 Staff

Sep 23, 2020, 7:02 PM

Updated 1,538 days ago

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A group of school bus drivers in Trumbull participated in a caravan Wednesday to voice their concerns that they don't have enough supplies to do their job safely amid the pandemic.
The drivers, who also claim they are not getting paid enough, covered their cars in signs and drove around town to get that message across.
The bus drivers and bus monitors work for Durham School Services. The union that represents them said the bus company doesn't give them enough protective personal equipment and that the buses aren't thoroughly cleaned at the end of each day.
The union also claims some students are not wearing masks.
The union said its contract with Datco, another bus company, expired in August 2019. The union said it has been negotiating a new contract with Durham ever since.
In Trumbull, schools were closed today like every Wednesday. On this day, students learn from home while the buildings are sanitized, which means one less day that the bus drivers are paid for, the union said. Wednesday, however, also presented an opportunity for the drives to voice their concerns.
The caravan drove past the Board of Education before finishing up.
News 12 Connecticut reached out to Durham School Services and a spokesperson for the company said,
"We continue to negotiate in good faith and have a meeting again on Monday, September 28, with the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU). The safety of our employees and our passengers is our number one priority. We can confirm that we provide PPE to our employees each day. Our buses are cleaned and disinfected twice a day; once after the morning routes and then again after the afternoon routes. In addition, we provide anti-bacterial cleaning supplies to drivers to enable them to spot-clean any surface that becomes contaminated during the route prior to the start of school. If we learn a driver or passenger on a bus has tested positive for the virus, we will take that vehicle out of service for minimum of 24 hours prior to disinfecting it and putting it back into service."