School bus workers gave the green light Wednesday to a strike that could strand 10,000 students.
More than 85% of Teamsters Local 553 members working for Brooklyn-based Jofaz Transportation and Y&M Transit voted to authorize a strike that could start as soon as Tuesday.
The union is angry over a management proposal that makes the workers pay toward health care while slashing five of their paid holidays.
“This contract offer almost guarantees employees will have to contribute weekly out of their paychecks — which in the future will mean less benefits,” said Demos Demopoulos, secretary treasurer of Local 553. “Right now the employees pay nothing, and none of the members in the school bus industry contribute.”
The current contract, which expires Tuesday, covers about 900 workers who handle 600 routes in Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island for both special- and general-education students.
The contract first expired in June, but was extended twice.
Under the old agreement, bus attendants make an average of $11 per hour and bus drivers average $17.50 per hour.
It was unclear exactly how much the companies wanted to take out of the workers’ paychecks to cover health care costs.
Brooklyn bus driver Lisa Cilone, who hauls kids to and from school in Bay Ridge and Bensonhurst each day, was resigned to her belief that a strike is the best course of action.
“We love our jobs and care deeply about the kids, but our children need to be protected, too, and we will go on strike to protect them,” Cilone said.
The last school bus strike was in 2013 and involved a different union — Local 1181 of Amalgamated Transit — and affected about 5,000 routes across the city.
In all, about 147,000 students are bused to school citywide by some 8,000 routes.
City officials were watching the negotiations closely and hoping for a quick resolution.
“We are disappointed with this outcome and working to swiftly address concerns of students, families and educators,” said Education Department spokeswoman Devora Kaye. “We have contingency plans in place — either a MetroCard for students and families or alternate bus service — to ensure transportation options for students.”
Representatives for Jofaz Transportation and Y&M Transit did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
