Bus lines on the frontline
BY HERBERT LOWE AND ROBERT POLNER, STAFF WRITERS newsday, December 17, 2005
Waiting for a bus in Jackson Heights, Jonathan Lame wasn't buying the threat of a strike Monday morning by the union representing about 700 drivers for the Jamaica and Triboro Coach bus lines in Queens...
...Because workers for the two lines aren't yet under the MTA umbrella - that move is scheduled for early next year - they aren't subject to the same regulations as the rest of the union rank and file, including the Taylor Law, which bars strikes by public employees.
"That's what is called a loophole," said John Fund of Hoboken, a freelance writer waiting in Jackson Heights for a Triboro Coach bus to LaGuardia Airport, where he planned to take a flight to Washington, D.C. "But I'd bet the union wouldn't like it if the MTA exploited a loophole in their contract."...
...Few riders had a strategy for reaching school or work Monday if their bus fails to arrive. It will be a difficult situation, but not nearly as awful as a citywide subway and bus shutdown.
"No idea," shrugged Sacha Pena, 17, a part-time office worker in Jackson Heights and full-time student at Robert Wagner High School in Long Island City, when asked about her Plan B. She lives two miles or so from the nearest subway...
Waiting for a bus in Jackson Heights, Jonathan Lame wasn't buying the threat of a strike Monday morning by the union representing about 700 drivers for the Jamaica and Triboro Coach bus lines in Queens...
...Because workers for the two lines aren't yet under the MTA umbrella - that move is scheduled for early next year - they aren't subject to the same regulations as the rest of the union rank and file, including the Taylor Law, which bars strikes by public employees.
"That's what is called a loophole," said John Fund of Hoboken, a freelance writer waiting in Jackson Heights for a Triboro Coach bus to LaGuardia Airport, where he planned to take a flight to Washington, D.C. "But I'd bet the union wouldn't like it if the MTA exploited a loophole in their contract."...
...Few riders had a strategy for reaching school or work Monday if their bus fails to arrive. It will be a difficult situation, but not nearly as awful as a citywide subway and bus shutdown.
"No idea," shrugged Sacha Pena, 17, a part-time office worker in Jackson Heights and full-time student at Robert Wagner High School in Long Island City, when asked about her Plan B. She lives two miles or so from the nearest subway...
posted by rio rocket valledor at 5:43 PM
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