Since the Queens bus strike began a month ago, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has insisted that the dispute should be settled by the workers and the bus companies and not by City Hall.þþBut now that the 1,500 striking workers and the three bus companies have reached a tentative agreement on health benefits with the city's help, the workers' union is saying that it is up to Mr. Bloomberg to resolve the other big issue in the dispute — job and pension security.þþUnion leaders worry that some bus workers might be laid off and their pensions endangered if Mr. Bloomberg pursues his plan to have the Metropolitan Transportation Authority take over the Queens bus lines, which normally carry more than 100,000 riders a day.þþThe union also fears that Mr. Bloomberg might pursue Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani's plan to put the bus franchises out to bid and that the winning companies might order layoffs and cut wages and pensions. þþThe union, Local 100 of the Transport Workers Union, has persuaded many City Council members to back legislation to protect the workers' jobs and pensions if other companies win the franchises. But union officials are unhappy that the mayor has not supported such protections.þþÿOur dispute now is primarily with the city,ÿ said Roger Toussaint, president of Local 100. ÿThe big issue now is job security.ÿþþBut Deputy Mayor Marc V. Shaw said in an interview last night that the administration was unwilling to promise to safeguard the jobs or pensions in the event that the M.T.A. or other companies take over the Queens bus operations.þþÿThis remains a private dispute,ÿ Mr. Shaw said. ÿSo with regard to their job security, there is very little we can do about it.ÿþþMr. Shaw said that if the union fears that some workers might lose their jobs in an M.T.A. takeover, then the union should negotiate its job security concerns with the M.T.A. and not City Hall.þþBut Mr. Toussaint said: ÿThe question of job security, it's clearly not between us and the companies. He's clearly wrong on that point.ÿþþIn an unusual twist, the three companies that have been struck — the Queens Surface Corporation, the Triboro Coach Corporation and Jamaica Buses Inc. — are backing the union's call for job security and pension protections. Those companies recognize that if the city requires other companies to protect the workers' jobs and pensions, should they win the franchises, that will make it harder for other companies to underbid the current bus lines.þþÿWe understand the union's concern about the job security,ÿ said Michael Gill, a spokesman for Queens Surface. ÿWe think that's an appropriate concern to have.ÿþþAsked whether the city might still put the franchises out to bid, Mr. Shaw said, ÿNothing's off the table at this point.ÿþþThe lack of progress toward a settlement is frustrating Queens officials. Dan Andrews, a spokesman for the Queens borough president, Helen Marshall, said: ÿWhat's of paramount importance is getting these people back to work. Today we had 96-degree temperatures and elderly people walking to their appointments. There's a real concern for their health.ÿþþUnion officials acknowledge that divisions within Local 100 are impeding a settlement. Mr. Toussaint said the union might let the 1,500 drivers, mechanics and cleaners vote later this week on ending the strike. þþBut George Jennings, the head of the branch of the local that includes the strikers, said he was not ready to hold a vote unless there was progress toward job security.þþÿIf there is a solution on job security, we'd be back to work in a heartbeat,ÿ he said.þþA settlement seemed imminent last weekend after Ms. Marshall, the borough president, persuaded Mr. Bloomberg to lend the bus lines $2 million to improve the workers' health plan. Mr. Toussaint had wanted the strikers to vote at a meeting last Sunday on whether to continue the walkout, but Mr. Jennings blocked a vote. The bus workers' pay averages $20.35 an hour.þþBus company officials said the surge of talk about raising subway and bus fares could help end the strike because that would enable them to raise their fares. That might enable the companies to run with a smaller subsidy from the city, which gave $167 million last year to seven private bus lines.þþMr. Toussaint and Mr. Jennings voiced concern that if the workers voted to return to work, the new contract would last several more months, expiring on Dec. 31. The workers' old contract expired on Dec. 31, 2000.þþÿAn immediate issue,ÿ Mr. Toussaint said, ÿis that giving us a two-year contract will put us back at the bargaining table in December, and that means the employees and the riders will be facing the same anxieties in just a few months.ÿþþJob security guarantees, he said, might persuade the union to accept a longer contract.þþBut Mr. Shaw said the union was seeking job security extending beyond the end of its contract, something, he said, the city does not even provide to its own workers.þ
Source: NY Times
