Bus Strike Leaves Commuters in Lurch

Drivers for three private bus lines in Queens walked off their buses and onto picket lines on Monday, charging that the City has reneged on a promise to give them better health benefits. Bus Strike Leaves Commuters in Lurch

Fifteen hundred workers at Queens Surface Corp., Jamaica Buses and Triboro Coach Corp. went on strike this past week demanding benefits comparable to those of City bus employees. As a result, an estimated 115,000 riders were stranded and left to rely on their aching feet or packed subways to move around the Citys most bus-dependent borough. Some took vans and livery cabs to the nearest subway station after waiting fruitlessly for buses that never came.
"Its an inconvenience," said Larry Williams of Middle Village, who usually takes the Q29 to Jackson Heights to do volunteer work. He said the strike added 30 minutes to his trip. "Im used to walking to the corner to take the bus, but today I had to walk all the way to the subway."
The three bus lines are subsidized by the City, but unlike Transit Authority drivers, the private companies workers have gone without a contract since January 2001.
"We are prepared for the long haul. We are securing a line of credit to prepare strike benefits," said Roger Toussaint, president of the Transport Workers Union Local 100, the union representing the drivers. He said the strike might last for weeks.
Toussaint and other union officials visited several strike sites Tuesday to rally workers before starting negotiations with the Citys Office of Labor Relations and representatives of the bus companies. A spokesman for Jamaica Buses and Triboro Coach maintained that medical benefits for their employees were the Citys responsibility. Calls to Queens Surface Corp. were not returned. As of The Couriers press time late Tuesday night, the parties reported no progress in the talks.
Joseph and Gloria Mayo walked the picket line Tuesday at Triboro Coachs depot in Jackson Heights. "The bills are going to stack up," said Mrs. Mayo of the financial strain imposed on her family while she and her husband stop driving their bus routes. "We do the same job [as City drivers], so why are they making more than us?"
The strike was the third work stoppage staged by private bus drivers since January. Previously, bus drivers held strikes to protest wage grievances and express concerns over job security. Union officials contend that in March, the City agreed to raise wages by 4% and health benefits by 19.8% over the workers two-year contract, but has slashed the benefits increase to 3.5%.
"We are urging both sides to reconcile their differences," said Jordan Barowitz, a spokesman for Mayor Michael Bloomberg. "We are not a party to these negotiations. Were not the employer."
Union officials lambasted the Mayor for distancing himself from the dispute. "The City supplies 60% of the operating budget [for the private buses]," said Toussaint. "For Bloomberg to say that theyre not involved is shocking."
Councilman John Liu (D-Flushing) and several other Queens Council members gathered at City Hall Tuesday to call for the Mayor to end the impasse. "The administration cant keep saying that they have nothing to do with this," said Liu, who is chairman of the Councils Transportation Committee. "Its ludicrous. You cant say youre not involved when there are 100,000 people affected."
Nat Tartamella, a union leader at Triboro Coach, suspected that the Mayors indifference was part of a plan for the City to take over the private lines by creating a crisis in which the state or federal government is obligated to take over the private buses subsidy.
A bill that would prevent such an action was introduced in March by Assemblywoman Catherine Nolan (D-Ridgewood). The bill, currently in committee, would have the Citys Transit Authority take over the private bus lines by 2007.
It all made little difference to Madeline Seneriz, who usually takes an express bus from her home in the Bronx to her workplace in Queens. The trains were "extremely packed," she said. "I missed two trains waiting to get on."