After the new year, kids may be looking for a new way to get to school.
Yellow school bus drivers have threatened to strike when children are scheduled to return to school after the holidays. The city’s contract with Amalgamated Transit Union’s Local 1181 is set to expire in June and a bid, open to all suitors, was issued to secure a new contract.
“Going through with the strike now would be unfair to our kids and absolutely unacceptable,” Mayor Michael Bloomberg said.
The union is upset that the bid does not include language that will guarantee current drivers a job in the next contract, something Bloomberg said was deemed illegal.
“The union is protesting a job guarantee the DOE is not allowed to provide,” the mayor said.
The strike would affect 152,000 students and 7,700 school bus routes citywide.
The DOE has taken efforts to provide transportation if the strike does occur and sent parents a letter on the step that will be taken.
Metrocards will be provided to students who receive yellow bus service and to the parents of children in grades kindergarten to second grade and parents of children with special needs.
Those in areas where public transportation is not readily available will be reimbursed by the DOE for any transportation costs.
Field trips that required a yellow bus will be cancelled in the event of a strike and after-school programs will remain open.
The union also threatened to strike in November of 2011 over similar circumstances, but the work stoppage was averted.
Calls to the union for comment were not immediately returned.
