Labor Board Backs ATU 1181 NYC Strike By Bus Drivers Drivers

Labor Board Backs ATU 1181  NYC Strike By Bus Drivers Drivers
• February 1, 2013, 9:26 p.m. ET

Labor Board Backs ATU 1181  NYC Strike By Bus Drivers Drivers
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142412788732370190457827798390746699...

By LISA FLEISHER

New York City school-bus companies lost an attempt Friday to force striking drivers back to work when the National Labor Relations Board dismissed a complaint against the three-week-old job action.

A group of 20 bus companies had argued the strike was illegal because the workers were protesting a move by the city—not the companies—to remove job protections from new contracts.

But the board ruled the union had the right to strike against the companies, because the companies could include job protections if they desired in their own contracts with the union—even if the city didn't require them.

"Significantly, while the [bus companies] have not agreed to the union's proposal that the collective-bargaining agreements incorporate the [job protections], the [bus companies] do not deny that they have the ability to do so," the ruling said.

A spokeswoman for the companies said they planned to appeal, and that the "bus companies will continue to do everything we can to get the buses rolling."

Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1181 officials have said they want to negotiate with the city, but Mayor Michael Bloomberg has refused and said the strike was a dispute between the bus companies and the union. Mr. Bloomberg has said that if the bus workers were city employees, they would be subject to the Taylor Law, which limits the rights of union workers to strike.

The board also said the city and bus companies were both considered direct, primary employers of the workers.

"Today's NLRB decision not only supports the legality of the strike, but validates 1181's longstanding position that the New York City Department of Education, in addition to the bus companies, is a primary employer associated with this work stoppage," ATU 1181 president Michael Cordiello said. "I hope that Mayor Bloomberg recognizes the impact of today's decision, and decides to come to the table with the union and bus companies to resolve the strike."

Said schools spokeswoman Erin Hughes: "This ruling doesn't change the fact that the union is recklessly holding our students and city hostage over issues it must settle directly with the bus companies."

Thousands of bus drivers and matrons have been on strike since Jan. 16, leaving more than 100,000 children without their usual ride to school. Students with special needs—and their parents—have had a particularly hard time.Most of the city's 1.1 million public-school students take public transportation, walk or are privately driven to school, but busing is provided to students who live particularly far from school or who have special needs.

The strike has affected routes beyond the ones staffed by drivers and matrons who belong to the striking union members because workers who belong to other unions have mostly refused to cross picket lines.

As of Friday morning, 13% of the general-education bus routes were running, and 40% of special-education bus routes were running. The buses carry students to public, private and parochial schools. On Friday, about 89% of students made it to school—about normal—while a below-normal 72% of students in the city's special-education schools attended.

Busing costs have risen from just under $300 million in 1994 to more than $1.1 billion last year. The city hasn't accepted new bids for the contracts since the last strike ended in 1979. Mr. Bloomberg has said he wants to rebid the contracts to save money, and city officials have said they won't continue to extend the contracts.