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Workers Offered Opportunity To 'Sharecrop9
Greyhound To Franchise Routes
by Gersh Mayer for Massa Teets. If I had the money for union members was instituted when the
A T U Local 1303 the down payment on a bus plus a fran- Amalgamated Transit Union lost a bit-
Regular readers of Labor Notes know chise fee, I'd retire instead." (John Teetster strike in 1983.) C
something about employee stock owner- is Chief Executive Officer of the Every existing Greyhound Lines $
ship plans (ESOPs). That's where a Greyhound Corporation.) scheduled service route that is sold will 5
business, usually one in financial trou- It's far more likely that the majority reduce thc number of union jobs for
ble, allows its employers to buy their of franchisees will be scab companies drivers as well as terminal a n d
company and then try to make a go of it already in the industry. But a n official maintenance employees. ATU Local
on their own in the marketplace. of a small bus line was also skeptical: "I 13 13, which represents Greyhound
Now Greyhound Lines has a new twist don't think many carriers are excited. employees in Texas, Oklahoma and
on the idea franchising. ?'he company Greyhound isn't going to give us any Missouri, has lost 2.5% of its member-
I
keeps the parts of the oprration that i t profitable lines. I'd say thanks, but no ship in the last three years a n d 1313
wants and fluffs off the rest to all comers thanks." vice-uresident Kov Golden exuects to
willing to pay for the privilege, in- Iosr almost another 10% if franchising
cluding lucky Greyhound employees THREE-TIERED WORKERS
succeeds.
who want a crack at being "independent If the company is able to pull off the T h e A m a l g a m a t e d Council of
operators. idea, another serious threat to job Greyhound Local Unions of the ATU
On January 7 Greyhound announced security will be in place. T h e situation has demanded that Greyhound bargain
that selected portions of its nationwide will be similar to the pitting of union over the issuc of franchising, but thus
bus systrm would be made available to truckers against scab owner-operators. far no bargaining has occurred.
enterprising souls for operation as fran- Franchising will allow the company to Questioned about Greyhound's plans
chises. I t would also allow existing operate what amounts to a three-tier if franchising proves to be a d u d , John
operatorsiin the bus industry to use the wage scale in a way that reduces the size I'eets said in an April interview with
Greyhound rlarnc for a price. T h e of the unionized workforce while main- Business Week magazine that he would
company called the program "the most taining or even expanding the Grey- then try to o l ~ t a i n more concessions
dynamic action taken to boost intercity hound system. (A two-tier scale for from cmployccs.
bus travel sincc thr start of airline
tlcrrgulation in 1978."
M&L Greyhound crnployc~cs a r c
suspicious of company claims that fran-
Merger of Printing Industry
chising is an opportunity for aspiring
cntrvpreneurs, sincc the routes being of-
Unions Is Cancelled
fered are the least desirable in the Scheduled referendum votes on a product of the mrrger of five smaller
system. merger between the International printing unions. GCIU Secretary James
In a n article in thc March/April issue 71'ypographical Union a n d the Graphic Norton said that the "concept of merger
of' the Greyhound rank and file newslet- Communications International Union remains quite alive in the GCIU," which
ter T h e Watchdog, editor Kogcr Sewell havr been cancelled. A March 13 is dedicated to the creation of "one big
cornmentcd, "Anyonc so dense as to ac- mreting of the GCIU General Board union" in the industry.
cept the [company'sj numbers is surely surprised the ITU by voting against the 'l'he Il'U will now hold a referendum
t o o d u m b to br allowed to drive a
mergrr proposal. on mrrging with the 'l'camsters. It is
busload o pcoplc." O r as one wag put
f Supporters of the merger pointed to a schedulrd for July 8. F l ' l ~ e three-man
i t , "1 don't want to be a sharecropper letter from ITU Secretary-'I'reasurer pro-GCIU majority or1 the IT'U Ex-
'l'homas Kopeck as a factor in the turn- ecutive Council will campaign hard for
down. Kopeck, along with I'I'U Vict,- a no votr so as LO lay to rest the issue of
president Allan Heritage, wants the ITU merger with the 'I'eamsters, which has
to merge with the 71'eamstrrs instead. dividcd the union for marly two years.
Kopeck's letter argued that a n ITU- '~'hr, 'I'earnstcrs have been active
GCIU merger would cause a financial suitors of the I'I'U, a n d have successfully
deficit for the merged union, and also raided srvcral locals in the last few
predicted that if such a merger went months. According to thc I T U Review,
through a large chunk of the I7'U the 'I'rarnstcrs are financing the "ITU
membership would bolt f o r the Coalition for Mergcr," a pro-Teamster
?I'eamsters. T h e letter was h a n d - faction witl~in the union. l ' h e Coalition
delivered to GCIlJ board members by is spcarheadcd by former Il'U staffers
'I'eamsters union reuresentatives. .
now on the 'I'camster vavroll. A Coali-
z
THE BOSS GCIU spokespersin William Moody
cited other reasons for the board's 28-13
tion phone numbcr is answered in
'l'camsters hcadquartc.rs in Washington
UP TO? vote: the short time spent on negotia-
tions, and the GCIU's reluctance to
by a 'l'carnster employee. Certified mail
addressed to the Coalition's post office
'Spying on Your Employer' assume liability for the ITU's Union box is signed for by a 7'eamsters
This guide to researching your Printers Home for retirees, although the representative.
employer explains what can merger document explicitly exempted Dave Gray, president of the Detroit
be found in a few hours in your the merged union from such liability. 17.11 Local, was cautiously optimistic
local public library. l ' h e merger would have created a that the membership would rebuff the
50@ To order, see page 11 printing trades union of over 200,000 .l'eamstr:rs on July 8 , and that progress
working members. -1'he GCIU is itself a would resume towartl "one big union."
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