Five Paraguayan bus drivers and one of their wives CRUCIFY themselves in union protest over sackings 
 
 
 
 The gruesome demonstration in Paraguay began 20 days ago 
 
 
 
 Eight drivers were 'fired after asking for medical benefits and overtime pay' 
 
 
 
 The protesters have vowed to continue until they are given their jobs back 
 
 Five bus drivers and one of their wives have crucified themselves, driving 38cm nails through their hands into wooden crosses in a union protest over sackings in Paraguay. 
 
 
 
 The gruesome demonstration, which is taking place near the bus terminal at Luque, 12km outside the capital Asuncion, began 20 days ago. 
 
 
 
 Each protester has been positioned next to an empty coffin and all have vowed to continue until they are given their jobs back. 
 
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 The gruesome demonstration, which is taking place near the bus terminal at Luque, 12km outside the capital Asuncion, began 20 days ago. 
 
 Five bus drivers crucified themselves using five-inch nails after they were fired allegedly for being members of a union 
 
 Mr Villalba, told AFP: 'Our position is clear: we want the eight drivers to be reinstated with all employee benefits. Otherwise the strike is not lifted.' 
 
 He claims some 50 drivers working for the bus company which serves the capital have worked for years without receiving any benefits. 
 
 
 
 Company manager Aufredi Paredes said five of the drivers will be re-hired, but the rest will receive legal separation payments. 
 
 
 
 Bus drivers, from left, Mariano Centurion, Sergio Cardozo, Felix Aguero, Dario Vera, Claudio Ramirez and Oscar Garcia lie down with their hands nailed to wooden crosses during a protest on the outskirts of Asuncion ||||| Eight Paraguayan bus drivers, who were reportedly fired from their jobs after demanding better pay and conditions, haved nail themselves to crosses in Luque, a town north of the capital, Asuncion. 
 
 The men have been lying nailed to crosses through their hands for 20 days, and have vowed to continue their protest until they are reinstated. 
 
 Union leader Juan Villalba, one of the drivers crucified, said they would not give up their protest until all are reinstated. 
 
 Mr Villalba claimed they had been sacked after asking for overtime pay, medical insurance and state pension contributions. 
 
 The drivers' wives are also taking turns to be nailed to crosses alongside their husbands. One appealed to the country's president to come witness their "inhuman situation". 
 
 "I am joining in today. Tomorrow it will be another mum, and the following day it could be another, because we have to defend our rights," she said. 
 
 The manager of the Vanguardia bus company, Aufredi Paredes, said five of the drivers would be re-hired, but the group are refusing to return until all eight are reinstated. ||||| The school bus driver strike has hit families hard, but on Staten Island, where families are still coping with the aftermath of Sandy, the strike has added even more anxiety and confusion. Marc Santia has the story of one mother attempting to deal with the added stress. (Published Thursday, Jan. 17, 2013) 
 
 Thousands of parents scrambled for alternate ways to get their children to school and back home Wednesday as the school bus drivers union went on strike amid a dispute over job protections in new contracts. 
 
 Some 152,000 New York City schoolchildren -- or about 14 percent of the public school population -- take the bus. About 54,000 of them have disabilities and face extra hardships traveling to school. Attendance on Wednesday was down 2.5 percent overall and as much as 34 percent among the special education population compared to the rest of the month average, officials said. 
 
 Officials said about 3,000 of 7,700 routes, or 39 percent, were running Wednesday, including 100 percent of pre-kindergarten routes and 39 percent of special education routes. Not all the city's school bus routes are driven by the striking union. 
 
 More than 100 bus drivers reported to picket lines in Queens Wednesday morning in the city's first school bus strike in more than three decades. The union promised the strike would go on until workers were guaranteed job protections in new contract bids. 
 
 Non-Union School Bus Drivers Stay on the Job 
 
 Some families breathed a sigh of relief when their regular school buses showed up Wednesday morning. Pei-Sze Cheng reports. (Published Thursday, Jan. 17, 2013) 
 
 "Mayor Bloomberg, Chancellor Walcott, please come negotiate with us," Union President Michael Cordiello, president of Local 1181 of the Amalgamated Transit Union, said Wednesday. "Protect the workers that have the experience, protect the children in New York. You can do it. Please, come forward and end this strike. It's in your hands." 
 
 Bus Strike Survival Guide 
 
 Solange Roche, a bus driver in Ridgewood for 23 years, held an "Employees on Strike" sign in one hand and an umbrella in the other as she stood in the rain with other union members at the picket lines in Queens. 
 
 "We need job protection," said Roche, who is among the more than 8,000 school bus drivers and matrons on strike. She and the other union members fear they'll lose their jobs to cheaper alternatives when their contracts are up in June. 
 
 Striking Bus Driver: "We Need Job Protection" 
 
 School bus driver Solange Roche was among the hundred union members who reported to picket lines in Queens as 8,800 members of the powerful union went on strike early Wednesday. Members of the United Federation of Teachers were also on hand to show their support. (Published Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2013) 
 
 Roche said she'll be in the picket lines for "as long as it takes" to reach a deal that satisfies the union's demands. 
 
 Bloomberg said police were called to a few garages in Brooklyn and Staten Island after picketers sought to block buses being driven by non-striking drivers. Police said there were no arrests and that the picketers mostly complied with requests to step aside. 
 
 The union and the city have been battling over how new contracts are being drawn up for a set of bus routes. The city wants to cut transportation costs and has put about 1,100 bus contracts with private bus companies up for bid. The union is decrying the lack of Employee Protection Provisions, saying without the so-called EPPs, current drivers could suddenly lose their jobs once their contracts are up in June. 
 
 Just after the strike officially began, Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott reiterated to NBC 4 New York what Bloomberg had said Monday -- that the union wants job protections the city cannot legally provide under competitive bidding regulations. Cordiello has said that claim is inaccurate, and said the strike would continue "until the mayor works with us to put the EPP back in the bid." 
 
 Schools Chief on Bus Driver Strike: "It's a Difficult Challenge" 
 
 Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott talks to NBC 4 New York about the labor dispute that has bus drivers union members on strike and the city's plans to ease the additional hardships it will put on New York City families. (Published Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2013) 
 
 Walcott said he understood the additional stress the strike would place on families, but said the city's hands were tied on the matter. 
 
 "We're putting a bid out to make sure we get the best service for our students. We have a responsibility to the taxpayers to put in a request for bids," Walcott told NBC 4 New York. "We will never compromise the safety of our students, plain and simple. We know it's going to be tough for our parents and children." 
 
 Parents Affected by Sandy Face Bus Strike Hardship 
 
 NBC 4 New York's Marc Santia talks to parents still struggling to get on their feet after Sandy, who are now worrying about how to get their children to school on Wednesday morning. (Published Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2013) 
 
 The city began taking measures this week to alleviate additional hardships imposed by the strike, including passing out free MetroCards for children to take mass transit to get to school. Walcott said the MetroCards for children are active Wednesday, while parents or guardians of students will have access to free MetroCards Thursday. In the meantime, they would be reimbursed 55 cents per mile for transportation. 
 
 The free city subway or bus passes were not much of a solution for many families. 
 
 Grandmother Janet Balmes said it's ridiculous to expect her 5-year-old grandson would take a city bus to school. 
 
 "I don't let him walk to the corner by himself. I'm gonna put him on a city bus to go to school? I'm gonna let him get off, cross the street and go to school? Not in this lifetime," Balmes said. 
 
 In Queens, mom Miriam Aristy-Farer volunteered to walk children from the A train to their school -- her contribution to ease the collective pain that parents will experience Wednesday. 
 
 "It's putting the pressure on people who don't make a lot of money to begin with, and asking parents to choose between safety and money," she said. 
 
 Some were concerned a prolonged strike could affect their livelihoods. 
 
 Angela Peralta of Staten Island has two daughters who take buses to two different schools. She's made car pool arrangements for one daughter and will drive the other one herself. That means she'll have to leave work early to pick her daughter up. 
 
 "I hope this doesn't go on very long," Peralta said. "I'm afraid that one of these days I'm going to walk into work and they're going to say, 'You know Angela, enough is enough.'" 
 
 Marc Santia and Pei-Sze Cheng contributed to this story 
 
 Copyright Associated Press / NBC New York
– A group of bus drivers in Paraguay is going to extreme measures to get back the jobs they lost: They crucified themselves—three weeks ago, reports the BBC. The men (some media reports say five, other say eight) used 15-inch nails to affix their hands to crosses that have been laid on the ground, and they've been in that position since losing their jobs (media reports again differ, with some saying the men were laid off, and others saying they were fired) after clamoring for better pay and conditions. Their wives are taking turns, too, the Telegraph reports. "I am joining in today. Tomorrow it will be another mom," said one, who asked that the country's president come and see the "inhuman situation." Some of the men are suffering fevers as well as stomach and chest pains, while four other unions members have been on hunger strike for 36 days, the Daily Mail reports. The bus company has said it will rehire five of the workers and help the other three find new jobs, but the group says it won't budge. "Our position is clear: we want the eight drivers to be reinstated with all employee benefits," the union leader said. "Otherwise the strike is not lifted."