NYC school bus strike ends after a month

The decision to suspend the strike came a day after five Democrats vying for the nomination to succeed Bloomberg as mayor next year sent the union a letter asking drivers to return to work. The candidates called on the bus drivers "to return to their jobs and continue the battle in other ways."

The candidates — City Council speaker Christine Quinn, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, City Comptroller John Liu, former City Comptroller Bill Thompson and former Councilman Sal Albanese — said that if elected they will revisit the job security issue.

Larry Hanley, the union's international president, said in a statement Friday that he was encouraged by the letter. "We view this request to suspend the current strike as an earnest effort on behalf of the city, its children and its workers," Hanley said.

Still, the strike's end was a victory for Bloomberg, who insisted that the city must seek new bus contracts to cut costs. Bloomberg and schools Chancellor Dennis Wolcott praised the decision Friday.

"We appreciate the hard work our bus drivers and matrons do and we welcome them back to the job," Bloomberg said in a statement. "In the city's entire history, the special interests have never had less power than they do today, and the end of this strike reflects the fact that when we say we put children first, we mean it."

Union leaders said Friday they were "dismayed" by the Bloomberg administration, which didn't help bring the strike to a close.

"In January when Mayor Bloomberg is gone, we are comfortable that his entire scheme will be rejected," Cordiello said. "We are grateful that so many elected leaders in this city are choosing the facts as a path to a conclusion, rather than a conclusion as a path to the facts."