As Yellow Bus Strike Ends, City Gained More Than it Lost

As New York City’s Yellow School Bus Strike ends today and about 200 private schools resume classes from the winter break, the price tag of the strike emerges, reported by The Wall Street Journal.

The Amalgamated Transit Union 1181 agreed to end their strike on Friday, without any real compromise from Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who managed to budge not an inch.  

Bus drivers wanted to renegotiate contracts that would included stronger provisions around job security, but the Mayor contented such provisions were illegal.

Additionally, Chancellor of the New York City Department of Education Dennis Walcott says, although the city spent more than $20 million reimbursing parents for travel, it saved $80 million by not paying the bus companies during the strike.

Walcott said, however, he expected the price tag to rise as he urged parents to continue to file for reimbursement within the next month.

Most drivers will return to work on Wednesday as public schools resume after a winter recess, but the strike's fallout will continue to be felt as companies, the city, and union sort through legal issues.