Danny Iudici/New York Daily News Union members of local 1181 amalgamated were on strike this morning at 1616 Stillwell Ave. in the Bronx at the Little Richie Bus Company. The strikers attempted to stop the working union drivers of local 91 from pulling busses out but order was quickly kept by NYPD. 
 
 Thousands of parents were left struggling to get their kids to and from school by taxi, subway or borrowed rides Wednesday as school bus drivers staged their first strike since the 1970s. 
 
 Some 152,000 students who rely on yellow bus service were left out in the cold as freezing rain that fell on the morning commute. The strike could drag on for weeks or months. 
 
 "This will go however long it goes," Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott told 1010 WINS radio. "And we'll have systems in place to support our parents and our students, acknowledging, though, the first several days will be traumatic for our families and we understand that." 
 
 Joe Marino for New York Daily News 
 
 All students affected by the strike got MetroCards Tuesday to take subways and buses to school, but a plan to make the cards available to parents of young children and special education students has been hobbled by bureaucratic delays. 
 
 Parent MetroCards won't be activated until Thursday because the MTA says it needs up to 72 hours to program the software in 6,000 buses. 
 
 "This will likely lead to chaos during the morning commute as tens of thousands of parents attempt to escort their children to school," warned City Councilman David Greenfield (D-Brooklyn). 
 
 Parents who drive kids to school will have to keep logs of their travels to get a 55-cent-per-mile reimbursement, while those who use cabs will have to fill out weekly forms and attach receipts for every trip. 
 
 Maggie Moroff of Advocates for Children said she's worried about disabled students for whom public transportation won't work. "They don't have a solid plan for how they're going to deal with these more-complicated issues," she said. 
 
 The union behind the strike, Amalgamated Transit Workers Union Local 1181, is protesting a city plan to bid out private bus contracts with no job guarantees for the union's 8,800 drivers and escorts. 
 
 Its leaders have promised picket lines at bus yards, and other drivers unions have vowed not to cross those lines. 
 
 The bus companies have hired replacement workers, but the new, nonunion drivers won't begin this week because they must undergo three days of alcohol and drug tests. The new drivers are getting training, and it's not clear when they'll try to cross lines to begin work. 
 
 Carolyn Daly, a spokeswoman for the companies, noted an increased police presence was expected at bus depots early Wednesday. 
 
 Joe Marino/for New York Daily News 
 
 The bus companies, meanwhile, delivered a letter to the National Labor Relations Board Tuesday demanding a stop to the strike. The companies say they'll suffer financially for an argument between the city and the union. 
 
 Discerning when this will end is difficult as no negotiations are scheduled. 
 
 With Jennifer H. Cunningham, Matthew Lysiak, Tom Tracy and Vera Chinese 
 
 WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE BUS STRIKE? LEAVE YOUR COMMENTS BELOW ||||| The school bus driver strike has hit families hard, but on Staten Island, where families are still coping with the aftermath of Sandy, the strike has added even more anxiety and confusion. Marc Santia has the story of one mother attempting to deal with the added stress. (Published Thursday, Jan. 17, 2013) 
 
 Thousands of parents scrambled for alternate ways to get their children to school and back home Wednesday as the school bus drivers union went on strike amid a dispute over job protections in new contracts. 
 
 Some 152,000 New York City schoolchildren -- or about 14 percent of the public school population -- take the bus. About 54,000 of them have disabilities and face extra hardships traveling to school. Attendance on Wednesday was down 2.5 percent overall and as much as 34 percent among the special education population compared to the rest of the month average, officials said. 
 
 Officials said about 3,000 of 7,700 routes, or 39 percent, were running Wednesday, including 100 percent of pre-kindergarten routes and 39 percent of special education routes. Not all the city's school bus routes are driven by the striking union. 
 
 More than 100 bus drivers reported to picket lines in Queens Wednesday morning in the city's first school bus strike in more than three decades. The union promised the strike would go on until workers were guaranteed job protections in new contract bids. 
 
 Non-Union School Bus Drivers Stay on the Job 
 
 Some families breathed a sigh of relief when their regular school buses showed up Wednesday morning. Pei-Sze Cheng reports. (Published Thursday, Jan. 17, 2013) 
 
 "Mayor Bloomberg, Chancellor Walcott, please come negotiate with us," Union President Michael Cordiello, president of Local 1181 of the Amalgamated Transit Union, said Wednesday. "Protect the workers that have the experience, protect the children in New York. You can do it. Please, come forward and end this strike. It's in your hands." 
 
 Bus Strike Survival Guide 
 
 Solange Roche, a bus driver in Ridgewood for 23 years, held an "Employees on Strike" sign in one hand and an umbrella in the other as she stood in the rain with other union members at the picket lines in Queens. 
 
 "We need job protection," said Roche, who is among the more than 8,000 school bus drivers and matrons on strike. She and the other union members fear they'll lose their jobs to cheaper alternatives when their contracts are up in June. 
 
 Striking Bus Driver: "We Need Job Protection" 
 
 School bus driver Solange Roche was among the hundred union members who reported to picket lines in Queens as 8,800 members of the powerful union went on strike early Wednesday. Members of the United Federation of Teachers were also on hand to show their support. (Published Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2013) 
 
 Roche said she'll be in the picket lines for "as long as it takes" to reach a deal that satisfies the union's demands. 
 
 Bloomberg said police were called to a few garages in Brooklyn and Staten Island after picketers sought to block buses being driven by non-striking drivers. Police said there were no arrests and that the picketers mostly complied with requests to step aside. 
 
 The union and the city have been battling over how new contracts are being drawn up for a set of bus routes. The city wants to cut transportation costs and has put about 1,100 bus contracts with private bus companies up for bid. The union is decrying the lack of Employee Protection Provisions, saying without the so-called EPPs, current drivers could suddenly lose their jobs once their contracts are up in June. 
 
 Just after the strike officially began, Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott reiterated to NBC 4 New York what Bloomberg had said Monday -- that the union wants job protections the city cannot legally provide under competitive bidding regulations. Cordiello has said that claim is inaccurate, and said the strike would continue "until the mayor works with us to put the EPP back in the bid." 
 
 Schools Chief on Bus Driver Strike: "It's a Difficult Challenge" 
 
 Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott talks to NBC 4 New York about the labor dispute that has bus drivers union members on strike and the city's plans to ease the additional hardships it will put on New York City families. (Published Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2013) 
 
 Walcott said he understood the additional stress the strike would place on families, but said the city's hands were tied on the matter. 
 
 "We're putting a bid out to make sure we get the best service for our students. We have a responsibility to the taxpayers to put in a request for bids," Walcott told NBC 4 New York. "We will never compromise the safety of our students, plain and simple. We know it's going to be tough for our parents and children." 
 
 Parents Affected by Sandy Face Bus Strike Hardship 
 
 NBC 4 New York's Marc Santia talks to parents still struggling to get on their feet after Sandy, who are now worrying about how to get their children to school on Wednesday morning. (Published Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2013) 
 
 The city began taking measures this week to alleviate additional hardships imposed by the strike, including passing out free MetroCards for children to take mass transit to get to school. Walcott said the MetroCards for children are active Wednesday, while parents or guardians of students will have access to free MetroCards Thursday. In the meantime, they would be reimbursed 55 cents per mile for transportation. 
 
 The free city subway or bus passes were not much of a solution for many families. 
 
 Grandmother Janet Balmes said it's ridiculous to expect her 5-year-old grandson would take a city bus to school. 
 
 "I don't let him walk to the corner by himself. I'm gonna put him on a city bus to go to school? I'm gonna let him get off, cross the street and go to school? Not in this lifetime," Balmes said. 
 
 In Queens, mom Miriam Aristy-Farer volunteered to walk children from the A train to their school -- her contribution to ease the collective pain that parents will experience Wednesday. 
 
 "It's putting the pressure on people who don't make a lot of money to begin with, and asking parents to choose between safety and money," she said. 
 
 Some were concerned a prolonged strike could affect their livelihoods. 
 
 Angela Peralta of Staten Island has two daughters who take buses to two different schools. She's made car pool arrangements for one daughter and will drive the other one herself. That means she'll have to leave work early to pick her daughter up. 
 
 "I hope this doesn't go on very long," Peralta said. "I'm afraid that one of these days I'm going to walk into work and they're going to say, 'You know Angela, enough is enough.'" 
 
 Marc Santia and Pei-Sze Cheng contributed to this story 
 
 Copyright Associated Press / NBC New York
– It's a rough day to be a schoolkid in the Big Apple. Some 152,000 of them had to find an alternate way to get to class in the freezing rain this morning, amid a school-bus drivers strike, reports the NY Daily News. Schools issued MetroCards to affected students so they could take public transportation, and parents who opt to pay for a taxi or drive their kids can fill out forms for reimbursement. But some worry that kids with special needs—more than a third of the children affected—will fall through the cracks, and parents of young students won't receive MetroCards allowing them to escort their kids until tomorrow. The strike, the first since the 1970s, could last for days or months, as no negotiations have yet been scheduled between the striking bus driver's union and city officials. The dispute centers around new contracts for certain bus routes that the city plans to bid out in an attempt to cut costs. The union called for a strike, fearing current drivers could wind up jobless when their contracts expire in June, reports NBC 4 New York. Protestors are forming picket lines at bus yards, and at least one driver says she plans to stay there for "as long as it takes." Replacement drivers hired by the bus companies will be ready to take the wheel next week—so long as they're willing to cross the lines.