The workers, members of Local 100 of the Transport Workers Union (TWU), are employed by Jamaica Buses, Triboro Coach, and Queens Surface Corporation. About 120,000 bus riders were affected, having to switch to taxis, subways, and New York City Transit buses during the morning rush hour commute.

"This had to be done to get people to recognize that we want a contract," stated Mario, a bus driver for 21 years, to the New York Times. "We don't ask for the world. We just ask to make a living."

The walkout, which began at 5:00 a.m., ended at noon, after union officials rushed to the scene to plead with the workers to return to their jobs. "We had a very difficult time getting people back to work," stated Roger Toussaint, president of TWU Local 100. "People's frustration is really riding high." At union meetings at each of the three lines, Toussaint expressed his hope that the new city council would provide money to help settle the dispute with the bus lines, which are subsidized by the city government.

The workers walked out over three issues: wages, pensions, and job security. The unionists originally sought a pay raise that would give them parity with workers employed by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, who earn 12 percent more than they do. The union is now demanding pay raises of 5 percent a year for two years. The bus companies are offering about 4 percent a year.

Unionists are also demanding that the new contract protect them from layoffs, which company executives have rejected.

Some drivers took issue with the decision to so rapidly return to work. "My take is, we should've stayed out until we got what we wanted," stated a Queens Surface driver who asked not to be identified. "Why not? We already lost a day's pay."  
 
 
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