Schools

Cost of School Bus Strike Revealed: Report

Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott announced that the city spent more than $20 million and saved $80 million.

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

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

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

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Additionally, 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.

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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.


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