The embattled school bus drivers’ union called off its month-long strike this evening after a series of setbacks and crumbling support from its rank and file.
The decision to return drivers and matrons of Amalgamated Transit Union’s Local 1181 to yellow buses on Wednesday — following an abbreviated winter break — was revealed by top union brass during a conference call with members.
The strike’s end was a significant win for Mayor Bloomberg — who took a big risk by displacing tens of thousands of school kids from buses to competitively bid out a portion of the city’s costly school bus contracts for the first time in 33 years.
His refusal to even meet with the union after the Department of Education removed long-held job protections for school bus workers left Local 1181 with few options.
Over the past four weeks, school attendance has gradually returned to near normal at most schools except those serving solely special education kids.
This week, bids for 1,100 routes at the heart of the battle were opened without incident — many coming in at relatively low costs.
There was also growing grumbling from drivers, matrons and mechanics — who said they were struggling to live on the union’s $300 weekly stipend since the strike was launched Jan. 16.
“People are getting testy, they can’t pay their bills, they can’t work,” said John Jankowski, a 22-year veteran of Local 1181. “There are a lot of people who can’t make ends meet.”
Local 1181 was even shedding dozens of personnel to competing unions, former members told The Post.
“I switched unions to come back to work,” said Aida Ortiz, 41, a bus matron at Boro Wide Buses who recently joined Teamsters Local 854. “When you have a family, you have to think about your family.”
Sources said the union managed to finagle a face-saving letter late Thursday from Democratic mayoral hopefuls, who promised to consider job security measures for school bus workers in the next administration.
“We pledge… [to] take effective action to insure that the important job security, wages and benefits of your members are protected within the bidding process, while at the same time are fiscally responsible for taxpayers,” reads the letter to the union.
It was signed by City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, Public Advocate Bill De Blasio, Comptroller John Liu, former Comptroller Bill Thompson and former City Council Member Sal Albanese.
But a source close to the bus strike said the letter was organized by ATU’s International arm to put pressure on the local union to get members back to work.
“They [the international] solicited people to sign it,” the source said.
Local 1181 President Michael Cordiello told his members that garnering the support of elected officials and getting out the message about the value of job protections were significant victories that would be built upon — but using different tactics — going forward.
“This war is not over,” he told them.
Additional reporting by Kate Kowsh and Dana Sauchelli