Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 30, 1990 TAG: 9003300169
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: DALLAS LENGTH: Medium
The company and union agreed to resume talks in Tucson, Ariz., on Monday, said Bernard DeLury, head of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service in Washington.
The agency did not say why talks were resuming. Company officials, who had said they would not negotiate until the violence ceased, were not immediately available for comment.
The decision comes as Greyhound plans an expansion Sunday that will put it at 54.1 percent of its total prestrike miles. The company said it is adding 112 round trips that will increase service to some cities and add 50 destinations.
But president Frank Schmieder also says Greyhound has no immediate plans to add some 205,000 unprofitable miles that constitute about 32 percent of the total Greyhound system. That could leave numerous areas without any intercity bus transportation, although Greyhound spokeswoman Elizabeth Hale said the company would attempt to subcontract some of the routes.
"In no way are we abandoning that 32 percent forever," she said.
The strike began March 2 when Greyhound and the Amalgamated Council of Greyhound Local Unions failed to reach agreement on a new three-year contract. There have been more than 200 incidents of violence, the company says.
Schmeider said Greyhound would like to end the "open warfare" with the union but the company considers the walkout effectively finished in much of the country.
"Essentially through the Southeast and Southwest, I think it's over," Schmieder said in an interview Wednesday. "We're beginning to have plenty of drivers. Chicago, Minneapolis, it's over," although "it's still tight" in the Northeast and West, he said.
Greyhound says ridership is increasing, though the 1.3 million riders it has had since the strike began is only 34.6 percent of the numbers for the same period last year.
Union spokesman Jeff Nelson claimed the company is operating only 20 percent of prestrike routes.
Nelson said there will be about 20 union-sponsored rallies across the country through the weekend and drivers "are feeling pretty good," even though they have missed their first paycheck.
Schmieder said Greyhound will have 2,250 drivers on Sunday, including about 500 union members. Company officials have estimated it takes 3,200 drivers to operate the system at this time of year.
Schmieder said income remains far short of expenses. He estimated daily operating expenses of $1.4 million with income ranging from $800,000 to $1.1 million.
by CNB