Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 7, 1990 TAG: 9003071886
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: C-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: DALLAS LENGTH: Medium
Greyhound Lines Inc., America's only nationwide bus system, said Tuesday it had 37,321 riders the day before, 34 percent of the number carried on the same day last year, but up from Friday's 30 percent.
"The trend is up. There is no erosion in our service," said George Gravley, a spokesman for GLI Holdings, parent company of Greyhound. "It's getting better slowly but surely."
The company's 6,300 drivers and about 3,000 office and maintenance workers are on strike. The union has asked for new talks, but none are scheduled.
The union issued a bulletin to its members Tuesday, urging them to use their cars to take blood to hospitals where supplies may have been disrupted by the strike.
But Red Cross officials said they were not aware of any serious disruptions, although blood usually delivered by bus was being carried by alternate transportation in some cases.
The company has been operating with about 700 replacement drivers plus what it says are 350 union members who crossed picket lines. Union officials said their own checks show that only 95 union drivers have been behind the wheel.
Gravley said the replacement drivers are being paid under the contract terms the strikers rejected.
The contract does not change base pay but allows drivers to reach higher pay levels sooner by setting up a system based on experience rather than seniority, Gravley said. It also rewards accident-free driving, he said.
The union has rejected pay increases linked to productivity. Greyhound drivers made an average of $24,743 last year, according to the company.
by CNB