TWU tries to get court order to stop #NYPD from using #MTA buses to transport #occupywallstreet protesters

BY Pete Donohue, Emily Sher and Helen Kennedy
DAILY NEWS WRITERS




The Transport Workers Union will go to court Monday to try to stop the city from forcing bus drivers to transport Wall Street protesters arrested by the NYPD, the Daily News has learned.

The union, whose leaders voted last week to support the protesters, said police brass commandeered three MTA buses to transport many of the 700 demonstrators arrested on the Brooklyn Bridge on Saturday.
Union President John Samuelsen called ordering bus drivers to drive prisoners "a blatant act of political retaliation."

Police brass had no immediate comment on Samuelsen's comments Sunday night.

"TWU Local 100 supports the protesters on Wall Street and takes great offense that the mayor and NYPD have ordered operators to transport citizens who were exercising their constitutional right to protest - and shouldn't have been arrested in the first place," Samuelsen said Sunday night.

At least five empty buses were commandeered from terminal points on both sides of the bridge, Samuelsen said.

In some cases, MTA supervisors ordered drivers to follow the directive.

"The MTA has a long history of cooperating with the NYPD and other law enforcement agencies when they require vehicles to perform their duties," said Jeremy Soffin, MTA spokesman

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2011/10/03/2011-10-03_twu_blast...