Drivers and other employees with Acadian Lines in New Brunswick and P.E.I. have been finding jobs while they're locked out by the bus company. (CBC)

Acadian Coach Lines employees in New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island are picking up work elsewhere, more than two months into a lockout by the bus company, a union representative says.

Glenn Carr, a driver and president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1229 representing the 59 locked-out drivers, maintenance workers and customer service representatives, said many have had no choice but to find other employment.

"That's very common, that's the whole deal. I mean, you can't just sit home and wait for something to happen. You have to be proactive, you can't be reactive," he said.

"I don't want to get into specifics, but there's various work around, and that's what they're doing."

Carr said the length of the lockout has been frustrating. The employees have been off the job since Dec. 2.

"I'd be lying if I said it's not frustrating, it is frustrating. But I mentioned to the membership, don't let the company win by losing your car or losing your house. If you need to, go find another job, until this dispute is over. And that's what they've done," he said.

Carr said the union and company are meeting with the Canada Industrial Relations Board next week.

The bus company was offering a contract that was worth zero per cent over the next five years when the talks broke down last October, according to the union. The union said the bus company then offered the workers a one per cent annual raise beginning in July 2012.

The union wants at least a cost of living increase.

Acadian Lines has said that its operations in New Brunswick are losing money and they need to be more productive. It said the alternatives are cutting jobs and increasing ticket prices. The company is also looking for more flexibility in assigning drivers.

The buses are still running in Nova Scotia because the company's employees in that province are part of a different union.