Drivers piled back into bus company
offices today to fill out all of the
administrative forms to hire back on,
this should have been a happy occasion
for drivers and management alike, but
strangely, it wasn't.
The end result is clearly a victory for
the Dallas Transit Board.
But General Manager Cliff Franklin
doesn't see it that way and thinks he can
prevent it from happening again.
Work harder at communicating with the
employees both up and down the line.
How?
Well, more, more personal
involvement may be than I have in this
past year.
All of the drivers who signed on today
start in two weeks.
But 120 of the most junior drivers
are out of work altogether.
Their jobs filled by new drivers hired
during the strike and across the street
at the union offices.
The feelings of bitterness are still
there. We don't need the damn job.
What Dietz really needs now are
mechanics, many of whom left for good
during the strike, even though the strike
is now over.
Many of these problems are just
now beginning.
There is a tremendous backlog of
maintenance and it could be upwards of 18
months before the bus system is really
back to normal.
Bob Leder, Channel 5, Action News, Dallas.