Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, March 6, 1990 TAG: 9003062055
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARK MORRISON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The driver of the bus, however, said that the incident was staged by the striking drivers and he was moving very slowly to avoid hurting anyone.
"As I approached the station, about 20 people were blocking the entrance the buses normally come in," said Dave Wadey, who has been a Greyhound driver in Roanoke for three years.
"I slowed down to about 1/20th mph, almost to a virtual stop. One of the drivers came over very calmly and very deliberately and bumped his shoulder into the bus and pretended he was hurt," Wadey said.
Picketers at the scene confirmed that the bus was edging into the terminal when Joe Wilson of Hardy claimed he was hit.
Wilson, 54, a member of the Amalgamated Transit Union Council, said he was struck by the bus driven by Wadey and fell to the pavement at the Salem Avenue entrance to the Campbell Court bus terminal.
He was taken by ambulance to Community Hospital, where he was treated, X-rayed and released. A hospital spokesman said that Wilson's X-rays were negative.
"He caught my knee underneath the bumper," Wilson said after leaving the hospital. "It was like a football injury. I hyperextended it. Then I hurt my shoulder when I fell."
A second striker, Quinton Edwards, also claimed he was hit by the same bus as Wadey tried to pull into the Campbell Avenue entrance.
Edwards said he was struck, but was not injured and remained on the picket line with about dozen other striking Greyhound workers.
Of the second incident, Wadey said the "strikers repeated the whole thing when I went to the other side."
A 10 p.m. bus arrived shortly after the incident and Roanoke police cleared an opening in the picket line for it to enter the terminal.
Strikers filed a formal complaint, according to the Roanoke magistrate, but no warrants or charges were issued.
Monday marked the fourth day of a national strike against Greyhound Lines Inc. by the Amalgamated Council of Greyhound Local Unions.
In Dallas, the union representing striking drivers asked the company to return to the bargaining table on Monday to end the 4-day-old walkout against the United States' only nationwide bus system. Nationwide, the strike has been marred by violence and vandalism since 6,300 drivers and more than 3,000 office and maintenance workers walked out early Friday.
There have been no formal negotiations since talks broke off early Friday.
by CNB