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School bus drivers to go on strike Wednesday morning

January 15, 2013 Denise Romano

BROOKLYN MEDIA GROUP/Photo by Lindsey Ellefson

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A school bus strike across the city is slated to begin the morning of Wednesday, January 16, according to union officials.

Workers from Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1181 (ATU), said they will strike because the union and the mayor’s office could not reach an agreement on the Employee Protection Provision, which “guarantees experienced school bus crews are behind the wheel of your child’s school bus.”

“The EPP is directly linked to the safety and security of our children by ensuring the city’s most qualified, skilled and experienced school bus crews remain on the job, and has been a cornerstone of these contracts for over 50 years,” explained Michael Cordiello, president of ATU Local 1181. “Last week we sat down with city officials to present them with reasonable and legal options towards re-issuing bids with inclusion of the EPP. Unfortunately, our words fell on deaf ears, and Mayor Bloomberg and Chancellor Walcott’s refusal to engage in any sort of productive dialogue regarding the lack of an EPP has forced our hand to strike.”

Mario Cilento, president of New York State AFL-CIO, said that the strike was due to the mayor’s unwillingness to compromise. “School bus drivers and crews are going on strike for one reason and one reason only; the mayor has decided to put his pride over the safety of New York City children. Rather than admit that he created this problem and can solve it simply by putting safeguards in the bid, he is hiding behind an unrelated court decision that he falsely claims is forcing his hand,” he explained.

However, Mayor Michael Bloomberg is singing a different tune. “With its regrettable decision to strike, the union is abandoning 152,000 students and their families who rely on school bus service each day,” he said. “As Chancellor Walcott and I have said, the city will take all steps available to ensure that those who are impacted have the support they need, and we are now activating the protocols we put in place in the event of a strike.

“Let me be clear: the union’s decision to strike has nothing to do with safety and everything to do with job protections that the city legally cannot include in its bus contracts,” he went on. “We hope that the union will reconsider its irresponsible and misguided decision to jeopardize our students’ education.”