SCOUTING YESTERDAY: Bus drivers strike after contract fails

This week in South Dakota history: March 8-12

Strike halts bus service; union says lines owner won’t sign pact. (Argus-Leader, March 1973)

In 1973, striking bus drivers and Sioux Falls City Lines management were unable to reach an agreement after mediation took place at City Hall. Union representatives held a meeting later that evening at the Labor Temple where a counterproposal was agreed upon. The Argus Leader reports that following the counterproposal, owner George Holter of Richfield, Minn., said he is willing to sell the bus line to the drivers or any other interested parties and that his bus service would be discontinued in Sioux Falls. Holter stated in the event that a sale is not arranged the equipment would be moved to other lines he owns in Richfield and Rochester.

The strike began March 1, as union drivers with Local 1356 of the Amalgamated Transit Union and City Lines management could not reach an agreement on new employment contracts. According to the Argus Leader, Mayor M.E. Schirmer held a press conference on the issue, stating that although both parties agree to the terms of employment the owner is unwilling to put those terms into a contract.