Greyhound strikebreaking tests U.S. labor movement

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Two thousand strike supporters shut down Greyhound in San Francisco Saturday, December 3. (See story page 10) BUS A major confrontation is shaping up between the American workers on one side and the bosses and their government on the other. The battleground is the Greyhound bus depots across the country. The immediate combatants are some 12,700 members of the Amalgamated Transit Union (AlU) and the powerful Greyhound corporation. The issue is a brazen demand by the company for a cut in wages, retirement benefits, health and welfare coverage, and other working conditions initially totaling 20 to 25 percent across the board. (Greyhound representatives claim the reduction to be 9.5 percent.) Other concessions on working conditions are difficult to measure in dollars and cents.

Forced to strike on November 3, ATU locals around the country hegan voting on the latest Greyhound contract offer November 20. The company's new proposal would cut wages "only 7.8 percent." (This does not include drastic cuts in benefits.) The vote, completed November 29, rejected the corpany's offer by 9,522 to 325--a 96 percent majority.

Despite the union's willingness | to accept binding arbitration on all issues in dispute, management responded with a flat no! When the union offered to continue working under the expired contract without any improvements, Greyhound again said no, this time informing the union that--like it or not--they were going to impose the reduced wages and benefits, thus forcing the drivers and other Greyhound employees to strike.

Scabs have been recruited to operate the buses, and the courts have issued injunctions against effective picketing. The cops are herding • scabs through the picket lines, employing brutal force to break the strike, thereby dealing a maJor blow to all working people. Leaders of the labor movement across the country have protested the strikebreaking role of the police and courts.

Old-Fashioned Strikebreaking Revived Older workers on the lines have noted the similarity in the events of November 17 with the picket line battles of the 1930s. One could see hired goons (private cops) in close collaboration with the Greyhound scabs and San Francisco police. This unholy combination was clearly putting preconceived strikebreakıno plans into operation• Socialist Action observers in San Francisco, Minneapolis, and Boston noted the elaboration of the company/police battle plan during the first major day of confrontation. One could see it being perfected in stages with each bus that attempted to run through the picket line--particularly in San Francisco. Enough force was scientifically brought into play at each stage(continued on page 2, in “Greyhound strike tests U.S. labor”)Premiere Issue