Members of CUPE local 1253 have ratified a new contract agreement with the province but details are not being released.
More than 1,800 school bus drivers, custodians and tradespeople working in school districts are included.
CUPE national spokesperson Marcos Salib says the focus now should be on finding more bus drivers and giving them better pay.
“There are bus drivers in the Fredericton area that actually come from Moncton and have their hotels paid, meals paid and mileage paid to drive in the Fredericton area for the French school district because there’s such a shortage.”
Salib notes how that ends up being an added expense for the school district to make those arrangements.
He says wages need to improve too with drivers in Nova Scotia making $4 per hour more than their New Brunswick counterparts.
“When we look at bus drivers in Nova Scotia, their pay is $24 an hour. Here, bus drivers are paid about $20 an hour. So there have to be serious strategic decisions made and approaches done to start bringing back people.”
