Settlement Unlikely Before Greyhound Contract Ends

Informal discussions between Greyhound Lines and the union representing its 6,300 drivers continued in Scottsdale, Ariz., Wednesday but there appeared to be little chance of an agreement before the current contract expires at midnight tonight.

Greyhound, the nation’s largest intercity bus company, said it will operate on a limited schedule if the drivers go on strike. The company said it could be back to full operations with replacement drivers by the end of March.

Jeff Nelson, a spokesman for the Amalgamated Council of Greyhound Local Unions, said the union considers a strike “an option of last resort.” He said the drivers have the option of continuing to work without a contract.

Greyhound, which said it had offered an increase of 6.9% in wages and benefits, said the union is demanding a 33% first-year increase that would force a fare hike.

The union, which refused to comment on the size of its wage demand, said drivers have not had a pay increase since 1983.

Negotiations began in November. Drivers and 3,000 office and maintenance workers voted Jan. 26, with 92% rejecting the company’s proposal and authorizing their leaders to call a strike.

Greyhound workers struck for seven weeks in 1983 before accepting a contract that required them to take a 14.8% cut in wages and benefits over three years.

The company says it has lost $20 million over the last three years and cannot afford to give more than its last offer, which it said is worth about $63 million over three years.

The bus company, which lost substantial revenue as the transportation industry was deregulated in the 1970s and ‘80s, was sold by Greyhound Corp. in 1986 to a Texas investor group headed by the former chief executive of Trailways bus lines, Greyhound’s major competitor.