Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, March 13, 1990 TAG: 9003133456
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A/4 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Greyhound executive Fred Currey carried on a whirlwind of activity in Florida on Monday, seeking to calm fears about the safety of bus travel after a strike that started March 2 and has erupted into violence several times.
On Sunday, a sniper's bullet hit a Greyhound bus operated by a replacement driver in Jacksonville, Fla., injuring eight passengers.
"We will not bend or move because of intimidation and violence," Currey insisted before boarding a Greyhound bus from Jacksonville to Orlando, Fla.
He then took a plane to Miami, where he said he was pessimistic about the chances of a settlement any time soon. The union, representing 6,300 drivers and more than 3,000 office and maintenance workers, went on strike over pay and job security.
"We will not raise fares to meet the exorbitant demands of the drivers," said the chairman of America's only nationwide bus service.
The strike has been marked by scattered violence, including a striker crushed to death by a bus operated by a replacement driver in Redding, Calif., and shots fired at buses in Chicago and Phoenix. A Greyhound bus heading into Hartford, Conn., with 19 passengers was hit by sniper fire Monday. No one was hurt.
"I would say it's probably strike-related because I have been driving for 17 years and was never shot at," union spokesman Charles True in Hartford said.
In Jacksonville, passengers were hit by shrapnel and other debris. Greyhound officials quickly responded to prevent a public relations fiasco.
Currey and Frank Schmeider, Greyhound president, flew to Jacksonville from Dallas early Monday and visited the three passengers still hospitalized. They also visited bus riders who were put up by the company in a Jacksonville hotel overnight.
One hospitalized passenger, Michael Rogers of Atlanta, was critical of the company.
"I don't think they should run their lines while they're having a situation like this going on," he said. "Or at least warn the general public that a situation like that might occur."
In Orlando, Currey criticized union leaders for not speaking out against intimidation. "Their silence is deafening," he said.
Asked why he rode the bus, he said: "I took the trip because I thought it was important for Greyhound people not to be intimidated."
In Washington Monday, federal mediators met for three hours with union officials.
Jim Power, a spokesman for the Federal Mediation Service, said the union "agreed to the possibility of additional meetings with the mediation service and management to start the collective bargaining process again."
In New York City, a state judge upheld a temporary restraining order barring Greyhound from hiring non-union replacements, union local President Harold Mendlowitz said. A further hearing was set for Thursday.
Greyhound, which serves 9,600 U.S. communities, is operating with replacement drivers and breakaway union members.
by CNB