Metro

Bus strike rolls on

The 12-day-old strike by school-bus drivers and matrons is not illegal, a federal labor board ruled yesterday, dashing the hopes of bus companies seeking to end the costly work stoppage.

The companies filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board on Jan. 16, claiming that the strike, launched by Local 1181 of the Amalgamated Transit Union that day, unfairly harmed them — even if it was aimed at the city.

“We believe the NLRB’s decision is incorrect and plan an immediate appeal,” said Jeffrey Pollack, chief labor attorney for the New York City School Bus Contractors Coalition. “In the meantime, the bus companies will continue to do everything we can to get the buses rolling so we can get New York City’s schoolchildren back to school safely.”

The walkout came after the Department of Education released bids for bus routes in late December that — for the first time in decades — lacked job and seniority protections in the event new companies were awarded the contracts.

About 140,000 kids in kindergarten to sixth grade take yellow buses to public or parochial schools.