Workers at the Command Bus Company of East New York staged a sickout yesterday to protest their lack of a contract. Although the action affected only a tiny fraction of the transit system's total daily passenger load, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg signed an order proclaiming a state of emergency and authorizing commuter vans to pick up passengers along the affected routes. Negotiations have stalled over pension liabilities, and a proposed takeover of seven private bus lines by the government.
See "Bus Workers Stage Sickout to Protest Lack of Contract", Sewell Chan and Ann Farmer, The New York Times, December 21, 2004