The strikers, members of Transport Workers Union (TWU) Local 100, have shut down the Bee-Line, the public bus service in Westchester County, which is operated by Liberty Lines, a private company. They have not only stood up to the owners’ intransigence but to attacks by county officials, a pro-company propaganda campaign by the big-business media, and arrests by the police.

“If you’ve worked here for 25 years or more, you should be able to retire at 57. That’s not an unreasonable demand,” said picket captain Angel Giboyeaux, on the line the evening of April 5. “Some people develop serious health problems over time. Driving a bus is a stressful job and there’s a lot of wear and tear.”

Giboyeaux, a bus driver with 16 years’ service, told the Militant that under the old contract, if workers retire at 57 instead of 62, the company permanently cuts nearly 25 percent off their retirement benefits.

Other pickets noted that New York City transit workers, also members of TWU Local 100, can already retire at 55 with full benefits under their contract.

They reported that last September one of their co-workers, John Toneske, with 27 years behind the wheel, was felled by a heart attack. Under the contract, however, Toneske, 52, would have had to put in another 10 years to be able to retire with full benefits.

The unionists are also resisting the company’s attack on their health care. They report Liberty Lines has demanded that workers pay 5 percent of their health insurance. This means that, as the costs of health care continue to skyrocket, the amount workers have to pay will keep increasing.

The company has also proposed that for each emergency room visit workers pay stiff fees—$200 for themselves and $400 for their spouse and each child.

One striker reported that the day before the strike began, both his wife and child had to go to the hospital emergency room. “This would now cost us $800 off the bat. From where?” he asked, pointing to his pockets.

The bosses also want to double the amount workers pay for medicine and to drop retirees’ medical benefits entirely, pickets reported. Giboyeaux said, “The company offered us this contract and said, ‘Take it or leave it.’ We said: No way!”

The unionists say the company is pleading poverty. In response, at a recent rally the strikers displayed a giant inflatable cockroach depicting Liberty Lines boss Jerry D’Amore. It carried a sign saying, “Hey Jerry, open the books, you crook.”

County Executive Andrew Spano and the local media have also ganged up on the TWU members, trying to pit other working people against the strikers. County transportation commissioner Larry Salley recently blamed the strike for “children whose education is being jeopardized, elderly people trapped in apartments, and people that can’t get to work.” Day after day, the Journal News publishes articles suggesting that on account of the strike, working-class families now have to choose between buying food or spending money on cab fare to get their kids to school.

Unionists have organized pickets to block buses that Liberty Lines is using to train replacement workers. Cops have arrested more than 40 pickets during these actions, strikers said. The workers face charges of “disorderly conduct.”

The TWU members have held several rallies to mobilize support. Their actions have been joined by members of the Teamsters, Painters, Local 32BJ of the Service Employees International Union, and other unions.  
 
 
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