News In Brief
Phoenix, Ariz.
Greyhound refuses call to renew strike talks
The gauntlet has been thrown in the Greyhound strike. After union employees turned down a bus-company offer with a 7.8 percent pay cut by a 9,181 to 325 vote, the carrier announced here Tuesday that it will now focus its full attention on restoring service to prestrike levels by hiring as many replacements as necessary.
Ads running in 200 newspapers today defend the Greyhound position. The company, struck Nov. 3, began hiring replacements Nov. 14, resuming limited service Nov. 17.
The strikers' Amalgamated Transit Union called on Greyhound to resume bargaining, with a suggestion that strikers might accept a small cut in wages if benefits and work conditions remain unchanged. But Greyhound chairman John Teets made clear there would be no immediate return to bargaining and that the expansion of services is planned despite picketing and incidents of violence.