Bus drivers plan for Monday strike


BY JOSHUA ROBIN
STAFF WRITER

January 6, 2005, 9:25 PM EST

Bus drivers serving more than 70,000 passengers in Brooklyn and Queens are planning to go on strike Monday, according to their union leaders.

The drivers, on Green Bus Lines and Command Bus Inc., will begin the action at 12:01 a.m., said John Longo, president-business agent of Local 1179 of the Amalgamated Transit Union. An attorney for a related union, Local 1181, said members also plan to walk out should Local 1179 take the lead.

City officials said hey would allow commuter vans to roam five routes with the highest ridership and least access to other means of transportation.

"We're prepared in the event of any type of work stoppage," said Jarrod Bernstein, a spokesman for the city Office of Emergency Management.

Longo said the strike is to protest what he said was the city's indifference to their demands regarding wages and medical insurance as the Bloomberg administration seeks to transfer the lines to Metropolitan Transportation Authority control.

"Nothing has been addressed," Longo said.

City officials said the workers will be guaranteed seniority and commensurate wages at the MTA.

"There's no reason for them to strike -- we've provided job protection and salary increases," said Jordan Barowitz, a spokesman for Mayor Michael Bloomberg. "The workers of Command and Green will be fully protected after the transition to MTA operations."

Barowitz said Longo did not show up for a scheduled mediation meeting Wednesday with city officials. Longo denied a meeting had been scheduled. Despite an invitation to the meeting, Ron Straci, an attorney for Local 1181, said there was no point in attending.

Last month, Command and Green workers staged several wildcat actions, including a sickout, leaving thousands of riders without bus service.

Bloomberg hopes the MTA will absorb Green and Command lines no later than May 1, along with two other lines. Of the seven subsidized lines, only Liberty Lines Express has been taken over. Another two lines are due for takeovers in February and March.