Yeah, they'll be counting the number of paper towels left on a roll ...

This is the manual to which companies bidding on the 1150 runs were referred. (Bid #2192). Only had a chance to peruse it very quickly, but it kind of makes you wonder why anyone would want to operate a school bus company in this fu#ked-up city!

Apparently we are now required to carry a "Bus Sanitation Kit" including paper towels (specifically, "two eleven inch rolls of 2-ply") and spray cleaners. (I do have paper towels and cleaner already, but to be that specific? Ya gotta be fu#king kidding me!!!)


http://schools.nycenet.edu/DSS/SSOselection/BidSerialB2192_ContractorsManual.pdf

Quote from: dunghue on February 15, 2013, 01:35:40 AM
rc1790 if you so concern about the press read this make you feel better  http://www.ny1.com/content/top_stories/177059/some-low-income-students-without-buses-have-issues-with-car-service-program   

No wonder the city claims to be saving so much money during the strike ... nobody's taking the vouchers - and kids aren't getting to school.

One of our strike captains along with a couple of other drivers cornered Vinny Ignizio the other day when he happened by the yard. He has agreed to do an interview (or was shamed into it) with NY1 tomorrow at 2890 between 10 and 11 a.m., possibly with Jimmy Oddo and Debbie Rose. The Advance and Daily News were also invited, uncertain if they will be there.

Why aren't these parents complaining to the State Education Department and if they are, why aren't they doing something about it?

http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/disabled-students-left-cold-article-1.1262238

Why do some signs say "I am a man?"

Quote from: GMC JOE on February 14, 2013, 12:06:34 PM
Having no health care after two weeks was not doing good research ,I do not think you need a crystal ball for that. Sorry to not agree.   

I was being facetious, Joe. Apparently the owner-trustees had better "researchers" than we did.

p.s. - Happy Valentine's Day ... LOL

Quote from: terminator on February 14, 2013, 05:48:54 PM
Buzz...I need clarification-I know we have jobs and same pay thru the school year next year...After that is it possible that Neil could claim he CANT pay us at our current rates? (asking us to take pay cuts to stay at Pioneer?)

Quote from: GMC JOE on February 14, 2013, 11:23:28 PMiT IS MY UNDERSTANDING WE ARE WORKING WITHOUT A CONTRACT FROM NEIL . MEANING THERE IS NO SAME PAY SCHOOL YEAR OR NEXT YEAR   

Pay and everything stays the same. Until there is a new contract, we get pay, benefits according to the prior contract although it is expired.

According to the article below, if the city went with the lowest bidders, the city could save $99 million ... I'm guessing per year. The highest bids were nearly $100 million MORE than they pay now. If they go with a figure somewhere in between, it's going to amount to about a 5% savings of the $1.1 billion transportation budget. All this for 5%? Thousands losing jobs, the hardship on parents and kids, the problem for schools ... all for a lousy 5%?

Can't say it enough ... not about the money, it's about feeding the little man's ego. If he were going to be around, he's probably spend the "savings" on more bike lanes and bike racks because there's not enough of them that go unused already.

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/new-bus-contracts-save-nyc-99-million-article-1.1262607

Quote from: GMC JOE on February 14, 2013, 12:22:44 AM
We know what Pioneer has for us , BUT Pioneer also knows what we have for the  them  . HAVE YOU NOT TAKEN A CLOSE LOOK AT THE SCABS ? For that matter include the drivers of the non union bus running around town . You can not tell me they do not scare the shit out of the parents and the owners of the vehicles . Always stay focused you can' t read minds . Right now we are on strike so listen to the unions directions. No one has a crystal ball . Don't let bloomys money beat us and don"t let them know what we are thinking because they can't and they do not have a crystal ball either. STAY STRONG 

Yeah ... if we had a crystal ball we would have known we'd have no health care benefits after 2 weeks. 

Quote from: mirrorcheck on February 13, 2013, 07:06:28 PM
Buzz...maybe my last post was misunderstood. Im not saying keta stay out. Whatbi am saying is we all agree we have sonething with our company. Others dont. Isnt that the reason why this was so important? Thats what I was told.

That's true. But we took a stand and after a few weeks it became obvious that this guy was not going to play ball no matter what the NLRB says, or the city council, or anybody else. We are dealing with an android who is devoid of human emotion. There are dictators in South America who are jealous over the power that this guy has.

Of course it's unfortunate for the people in these other companies, but the mayor says he will fast-track some of the new bidders and get them started this school year ... because he will pull contracts on those companies if they're still on strike and not fulfilling their obligations. Then the poor people who would be out of a job in September will instead be out of a job NOW.

Better we go back and they salvage what's left of this year because whether we stay out another month or another year they will still not have jobs. Hopefully in the meantime the somebody will pull a rabbit out of the hat and get an EPP out of Albany.

And to clarify, when I say go back to work, I'm not talking about crossing the line. I'm saying the union should cut our losses and send us back.

I don't know that anything that happens on March 7 would nullify the bids that were submitted. I also don't think that ultimately the court will declare the EPP illegal.

However, if March 7th's hearing causes the court to issue an injunction to force the city to suspend awarding any contracts while they decide the case, that will be a good thing. It may take months for a decision to come down, and the longer we can delay this, the shorter Bloomberg's time left in office.

Quote from: mirrorcheck on February 13, 2013, 03:06:35 AM
Buzz....thats the problem. The job vacuum creates 1181 drivers out of work...that need to be replaced into other companies. If we are all "one" union we cant abandon them. So the original reason why we went out was for these same other companies. I say this creates a really big issue. Now I fear its grown bigger and now not easily solveable. Had tue city taken the very reasonable and fair offer to sit down and have 3 party talks a deal could have been worked out. As much as I want go be back to work ASAP...my personal friends from other companies look to be really screwed.
      Ps Buzz...my point was in that article you cant win unless your a player. That exposes what we all know was bloomys hand in this...its NOT an employee/Contractor issue. Benjamin is really ignorant.

Bottom line ... we ARE NOT getting the EPP from Bloomberg EVER.

Now, how long do you want to stay out of work?

Quote from: Rock Steady on February 13, 2013, 12:43:03 AM
I do believe it was Atlantic Express

The bus number was too short for an AE vehicle. The phone number belongs to P & G Transportation, Brooklyn.

Quote from: mirrorcheck on February 12, 2013, 06:22:27 PM
Rc....I believe those are other unions crossing the lines. Michael Benjamins piece has a few inaccuracies in it. Faceit....unless maybe some kind of endaround about the suit brought forth by the contractors coalition comes to light. I am still in shock and outraged that this happened. I dont know if this is a scare tactic or what. Whatsruled illegal could be a game changer.

As I explained to terminator, I don't think this will change anything for us. Until there's a new contract we get the same pay and benefits as under our previous contract. (I'm not in a hurry for a new contract ... bound to be givebacks.)  I think these contractors are trying to protect themselves from being forced to take top-pay 1181 workers from companies that lost their work ... when new companies on the scene can submit low bids because they are starting people at $14 an hour. They want to be able to hire new 1181 employees at starting pay, not non-union scabs. As long as Neil doesn't go out of business, we'll have jobs. Unless I'm missing something, it doesn't seem unreasonable to me.