Uncertified Bus Drivers Taken Off Road : Labor: Strike-bound Greyhound’s decision called a victory for Assemblyman Katz. Company says only 40 operators are affected.

All Greyhound replacement bus drivers who do not meet California safety standards have been taken off the road until they can pass the state test for coach operators, the strikebound company announced Friday.

The decision is a victory for Assemblyman Richard Katz (D-Sylmar), who had charged that the uncertified drivers--stationed primarily in Southern California--posed a public safety hazard.

“It’s the right thing to do,” said Katz, who first raised the issue. “I am glad that Greyhound decided to abide by the law. When the drivers have the proper licensing and background checks, they should be allowed back on the road--but not until then.”

In an attempt to keep buses running during the two-month drivers’ strike, Greyhound has hired and trained hundreds of replacement operators. The newly hired workers had received commercial driver’s licenses but most began driving before they obtained a tour bus operator certificate--a requirement imposed by the Legislature after the fatal Walker River bus crash of 1986.

Initially, the bus company said that 160 drivers--nearly half of the Greyhound operators employed in California--still did not have the certificate. But on Friday, spokeswoman Elizabeth Hale said Greyhound’s latest figures showed that no more than 40 operators now are uncertified.

After The Times reported Thursday that Greyhound was using drivers who do not meet state standards, the company ordered them to return to their homes until they pass the test administered by the Department of Motor Vehicles.

“We won’t let them drive until they’re certified,” Hale said. “They will not be operating the buses.”

Hale said all the uncertified drivers were removed from their jobs by Thursday night. Those who were still away from their home terminals Friday were sent back as passengers, she said.

In April, a California Highway Patrol inspection of the Los Angeles Greyhound terminal found that more than 90% of the drivers did not have the tour bus operator certificate. Since then, the company had arranged for the drivers to take the test but allowed them to continue operating the buses before they were certified.

In order to get a tour bus operator certificate, an applicant must pass a written test and a driving exam. In addition, anyone convicted of driving while intoxicated, reckless driving or other serious driving offenses in the previous three years is disqualified.

The certificate requirement was prompted by the Walker River crash that killed 22 Southern California gamblers on their way to Nevada. A subsequent investigation found that the driver of the charter bus had a history of speeding and other driving violations.

Greyhound is supporting legislation by Sen. Newton R. Russell (R-Glendale) that would exempt its drivers from the tour bus operator certificate. However, Katz, who is the chairman of the Assembly Transportation Committee, said the exemption has no chance of winning passage from his committee.

BACKGROUND

Since the strike by Greyhound drivers began March 2, the bus company has employed some replacement drivers in California who were not certified under the state’s strict licensing procedure for coach operators. After receiving a warning from the California Highway Patrol, Greyhound has gradually been getting its drivers tested and certified, but had continued to keep unqualified operators behind the wheel. Meanwhile, Greyhound and its striking workers agreed this week to reopen talks aimed at ending the strike. Contract negotiations, halted since mid-March, will resume today in Washington.