Striking school bus drivers in Boston return to work

BOSTON (Reuters) - School bus drivers in Boston returned to work on Wednesday after a one-day wildcat strike that drew criticism from both Mayor Thomas Menino and the drivers' own union. The Boston Public Schools confirmed that service had resumed but warned it was not yet clear whether service would continue into the afternoon, after a morning meeting between the union, management and the mayor. Some 30,000 children who attend public and private schools and their parents were left scrambling to come up with alternate ways of getting to school when some 700 drivers represented by the United Steelworkers of America Local 8751 walked off the job. The drivers had walked out over a dispute on work conditions with Veolia Transportation Services, the company that holds the bussing concession. Veolia Transportation is a unit of France's Veolia Environnement. (Reporting by Scott Malone; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick)