Detroit bus drivers stage unauthorized sick-out forcing long delays for riders

DETROIT (WXYZ) - Nearly 100 bus drivers for the City of Detroit have called in sick and the number is expected to rise throughout the day causing longer delays for people waiting for a bus.

Today's sick-out that union leaders say was not authorized coincides with a rally in Lansing where thousands of union workers from the public and private sectors are protesting legislation they see as anti-union.

Dan Lijana, spokesperson for Detroit Mayor Dave Bing, speculates that the sick-out may also be related to the Mayor’s budget presentation to City Council yesterday. Union leaders see Bing's talk of an emergency financial manager possibly coming in and taking over as a threat to obtain more concessions.

Calvin Cooley uses the D-DOT bus service to get to his job at American Axle and this morning he was one of many riders frustrated with the long wait for his bus. Cooley told Action News, "I don't like to get wrote up for being late when it ain't my fault." Eventually, Cooley gave up waiting on his bus and boarding a different bus in hopes of figuring out another route to work. He later told Action News that he was more than thirty minutes late for his shift.

Henry Gaffney, President of Amalgamated Transit Workers Detroit Local 26, says the union has not called for, nor has it authorized, a “sick-out” work action for today for City of Detroit Department of Transportation workers.

Gaffney says the union is encouraging all members who have a day off , or previously scheduled vacation day off, to join the big protest rally at the state Capitol in Lansing today.

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