The embattled school bus drivers’ union could call off its month-long strike as early as tonight — during a member-wide conference call with top union officials, sources said.
Amid several significant setbacks, Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1181 President Michael Cordiello is expected to tell the 9,000 striking bus drivers, matrons and mechanics that the union will take steps to “live to fight another day,” according to a source close to the union.
Stephen Yang
School buses are parked in a lot in Ridgewood, Queens.
“He wouldn’t be doing this [call] to be telling everyone we’re going to fight this ‘til death,” said the source.
“There’s dissention on the picket lines. They can’t live on what they’re getting paid,” added the source. “People want to go back [to work].”
The work stoppage was launched January 16 in response to the city’s removing long-held job protections for bus workers from contracts that cover 1,100 of the school system’s 6,700 school-age bus routes.
The city said it was eliminating the protections because they were deemed illegal by the state’s highest court, and also to lower the costs of the $1 billion school bus system.
But over the past four weeks, school attendance has gradually returned to nearly normal at all schools except those serving special education students.
This week, bids for the 1,100 routes at the heart of the battle were submitted and opened without incident — many coming in at lower costs compared to current contracts.
This evening’s call comes on the same day that the union garnered political cover for ending the strike from five mayoral candidates — who signed a letter promising to seek other forms of job security for school bus workers if they’re elected.
“We pledge... to revisit the school bus transportation system and contracts and take effective action to insure that the important job security, wages and benefits of your members are protected within the bidding process, while at the same time are fiscally responsible for taxpayers,” reads the letter to the union.
It was signed by City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, Public Advocate Bill De Blasio, Comptroller John Liu, former Comptroller Bill Thompson and former City Council Member Sal Albanese.
By the time a new mayor takes over, however, Local 1181 would have lost as many as 2,300 positions for drivers, matrons and mechanics on the 1,100 routes that were rebid.
Those contracts are expected to be awarded to bus companies in coming months.
A source involved in bus strike issues said the pledge by mayoral hopefuls would likely be accomplished not by fiddling with contracts between the city and bus companies, but by asking the state legislature to insert job protections for bus workers into state law.
“This is not a serious letter,” the source said. “No one’s talking about undoing any contracts.”
The source also said the letter was organized by the ATU’s International arm — whose president will be on today’s conference call — to put pressure on the local union to get members back to work.
“They [the international] solicited people to sign it,” the source said.
