Yesterday, hundreds of Boston school bus drivers struck, against a clause in their contract, leaving tens of thousands of schoolchildren stranded. The drivers, according to Section 1 of their contract, could legally be fired for this action. Normally, this type of dispute could go to the National Labor Relations Board, but the board is closed due to the federal shutdown. The union claims that the school district was informed about the ?chaos that [would] probably happen? and the ?big issue on [their] hands.? The local and international union leadership say that they were not involved in planning the strike, but when they received a tip from a driver they immediately began attempting to contact school officials.
See "Union boss: City official didn?t take his heads up ?seriously?", Chris Cassidy & David Wedge, Boston Herald, October 8, 2013