Some 2,100 students were absent from Hartford Public Schools on Tuesday as DATTCO school bus drivers walked the picket line, school officials said.
Thirty drivers went on strike after nine months of unsuccessful union negotiations. School officials said Monday that students who could not attend school because of the lack of DATTCO bus service would be excused for the day.
Attendance at Hartford Public Schools — usually 93 percent down — fell to 85 percent on Tuesday. The one-day DATTCO strike affected a total of 9,000 students.
Picketing bus drivers are looking for the same benefits they say other drivers in the company receive, including a 401K, paid time off and an increase in hours from 20 to 25 or 30 a week.
"It’s been nerve-wracking. It’s been months. We’ve been doing this for about seven, eight, maybe nine, months now and it’s getting really frustrating," said school bus driver Stacy-Ann Barrett. "So we want them to see that we’re serious and that we really need this contract. We need it now."
Hartford Superintendent Beth Schiavino Narvaez released a statement Monday saying the school district is "disappointed that this bus provider and its bus drivers have been unable to reach an agreement to avoid this unnecessary interruption of transportation services."
According to DATTCO, the company reached an agreement with the union in April, but just learned the drivers rejected it.
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The company released a statement Tuesday calling the strike "unfortunate and regrettable."
"Despite months of bargaining and the reaching of a tentative agreement, union leadership sought to place their own needs above those of our employees, the children and parents of the Hartford Public Schools, and the City of Hartford as a whole," said DATTCO chief operating officer Cliff Gibson.
Gibson said the company has continued to offer increases and "wages well above industry average." He accused union leadership of taking an "untimely and uncaring" stance and said DATTCO "will continue to bargain in good faith" with the help of a federal mediator.
Suburban magnet school students and special education students are not affected by the strike, according to school officials.
Hartford school officials said DATTCO's bus service should resume normal operations by Wednesday.
More negotiations are scheduled for later this week.
