About half of the city’s 7,700 yellow bus routes were not operating on this wet Wednesday morning, as bus drivers and escorts took to the picket lines. The union called on City Hall to ensure job security for its members but the mayor said the issue is not open for negotiation.

Although many parents support the drivers’ concerns about job security, a yellow bus strike will throw finely honed schedules into chaos.

Education officials are spreading the word via the media and old-fashioned letters in the backpack to inform families of the city’s protocol for an expected school bus strike. Even with the information blast, there are many open questions about which routes will be affected and how long the strike may last.

Momentum behind a school bus strike picked up Sunday, as education officials blasted the drivers’ union for “irresponsible” behavior.

Public school parents are worrying a yellow bus strike could occur at any time. We can’t predict the future but we do have answers to some commonly asked questions, including why this is even an issue.

The city continues its efforts to prepare families for a possible bus strike as the drivers’ union held a large rally on Sunday. Union leaders say they hope to avoid a job action in favor of negotiated job protection for its experienced bus drivers.

The presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich took a potshot at an unusual target in the most recent Republican debate. He lambasted New York City school cleaners for getting paid too much, using them as exhibit A of unions inflating salaries and harming the nation’s economy. Here’s a check of his facts, and reaction from the union, a high school custodian and students.

At a rally, the union representing school bus drivers said the city should be focusing on the safety of children who ride the buses.

The bus drivers’ union, Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1181, has told the city it will order a strike if the city does not include provisions in the bid guaranteeing seniority-based job protections for their members in case the companies that employ them are not awarded new city contracts. The mayor called the threat “outrageous.”

Hoping to reverse last month’s layoffs of 672 school support workers, the union representing them plans to sue the city. The union, District Council 37, is claiming the layoffs were unnecessary and discriminatory because of their disproportionate impact on schools that serve poor students.