The struck companies are Green Bus Lines, which operates out of Jamaica, Queens, and Command Bus, which runs routes in the East New York area of Brooklyn.

City authorities are in the process of buying these two private companies along with five others that the city has subsidized since 1974. City Hall plans to integrate the seven lines into the city’s central transportation system—the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA).

The strikers have been without a contract for two years as the city takeover has dragged on. Green Bus Lines workers belong to the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 1179. Command Bus Company workers are members of ATU Local 1181. City subway and bus workers are organized by the Transport Workers Union Local 100.

From day one of the walkout, New York mayor Michael Bloomberg has pressured the workers to return to work. He tried to undermine the impact of the strike by authorizing commuter vans to pick up passengers along a few of the affected routes.

The unionists pressed for a retroactive pay raise for the two years they have been without a contract. Despite progress on health-care questions, talks broke down January 13 over refusal by the bosses to budge on the retroactive pay demand. The city administration agreed earlier to fund two years of back pay for the private lines that are part of the planned MTA takeover, but has not come through, instead tying payment to the actual takeover. At his January 13 press conference announcing that talks had broken down, Bloomberg said, “It would be paid when this deal closes, because that’s when you start getting better service.”

Militant reporters visited the picket line on the second day of the strike at the Green Bus Lines garage on 147th Avenue here. The nearly 50 picketers were in high spirits. Some were sipping coffee around fires to keep warm. Others were chanting, “What do we want? Contract! When do we want it? Now!”

Stanley Brown, a Green bus driver with five years’ seniority, said, “We’re all partners out here on the picket line.” He added, “Last week my passengers wished me luck with the strike.”

Donald Sinkler has put in four years with the Green Line. “Can you imagine having to pay doctor bills for me and my family?” he asked. The union is demanding company contributions into the health care fund, he said, which is running low.

“We also need a merged seniority list when we are city bus drivers,” Sinkler added. “We can’t get into a situation where we are unprotected. One passenger told me before the strike began, ‘Do what you have to do to get a contract.’”

The Daily News, one of the three main dailies in New York City, ran lead editorials in opposition to the strike in its January 13 and 14 editions. The January 13 editorial, “Put the riders back on the bus,” lamented, “The leaders of American [sic] Transit Union Locals 1179 and 1181 have avoided jail only because their striking members work for two privately owned bus lines—Green and Command. Thus, they are beyond the reach of the Taylor Law.” The 1967 Taylor Law is a state measure that bans strikes by government workers.

The following day the headline of the editorial was “The guys who stopped the buses” and had two photographs—union leaders John Longo and Sal Battaglia. The editorial began, “These photographs should be mug shots,” and denounced the union leaders for the lack of a contract.

The strikers organized round-the-clock picket lines at the main garages housing the two struck companies. Workers in Jamaica—some with decades on the job—said they were determined to stay out until they get a fair contract. Many people driving by honked in solidarity.

As this issue went to press January 19, the city government announced that a tentative settlement had been reached with the union negotiators. According to the Associated Press, the two-year agreement gives workers a $1,000 cash payment in the first year and a 3 percent raise in the second year. Union members still have to ratify the contract.  
 
 
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