Contract flap may mean Suffolk Bus layoffs

A Bay Shore passenger bus company plans to lay off 119 employees -- virtually all of its staff -- if its contract with Suffolk County isn't renewed, according to a state filing dated Thursday.

Suffolk Bus Corp., which is part of Suffolk Transportation Service Inc., cited uncertainty over a contract renewal in a mandatory WARN notice, which companies are required to file 90 days before a mass layoff or closing.

But a spokeswoman stressed that the company expected the contract to be renewed. It expires Dec. 31.

"We feel confident that the contract will be renewed," she said.

The workers who would be affected are bus drivers, mechanics and management employees.

Suffolk Bus is the second bus company since June to post a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act filing because of the county's more competitive bidding process for passenger buses.

Sunrise Coach Lines Inc., which provides public bus transportation on the North Fork under a county contract, said in early June that it might have to lay off 37 people because of an uncertain contract renewal.