Bus union told to lift strike threat before talks begin
Wednesday June 24 2009
A union will be asked to withdraw its threat of strike action at Bus Eireann which could affect 70,000 passengers a day, to allow mediation to begin.
The Labour Relations Commission (LRC) is expected to intervene within days but will first ask the National Bus and Rail Union to withdraw its threat of industrial action.
The union served notice of action on the company on Monday after it announced it will begin implementing a plan to save €30m from next Monday.
Bus Eireann's other main union -- Siptu -- does not have a mandate for action yet but is unlikely to pass pickets mounted by the other union.
Sources yesterday revealed that it is only a matter of days before the LRC intervenes in a bid to resolve the highly disruptive dispute.
If talks resume, the company is also likely to push back its planned service cuts, taking 162 buses out of the fleet.
Over 99 routes will be reduced or withdrawn completely and 320 jobs lost as the cost recovery plan is phased in.
"The LRC will step in in a day or two and the normal thing is that any action will have to be called off first to allow talks to take place," said a source.
Discussions collapsed over a week ago when unions insisted that temporary drivers, who had concluded a probationary period were made permanent, before talks could progress.
Without talks, Bus Eireann has said it will forge ahead with plans to change work practices on June 29 and implement service cuts from July 5.
Irish Rural Link has condemned the cutbacks and said they will leave thousands of people without transport.
Breach
"The seemingly indiscriminate nature of these cuts, hitting routes linking towns, villages and cities across the country, shows that public transport to rural areas is essentially a 'cut and paste job'," said chief executive Seamus Boland.
Meanwhile, Siptu has warned Bus Eireann it will ballot for industrial action next week if the company pushes ahead with its cost recovery plan. The union claimed the company will be acting illegally if it tries to cut drivers' pay without agreement.
In a letter to Bus Eireann's human resources manager, Des Tallon, Siptu sectoral organiser Andrew McCarthy said the company may be in breach of the last national pay deal.
He said the company must be aware it is illegal to cut pay without agreement and that SIPTU was "very perturbed by the actions of management", which took until the May to arrange a meeting with unions.
He said Siptu had been available for discussions since February. Mr McCarthy added that the company's attempt to categorise newly recruited drivers as 'temporary' and refusal to make them permanent showed them "immense disrespect".
However, he said Siptu was available for discussions with management once it did not push ahead with its savings plan.
Elsewhere, employers have accused electricians of planning an "unwarranted" strike for a pay rise.
The Construction Industry Federation last night said it "regretted" the Technical Engineering and Electrical Union's decision to organise a work stoppage on July 6.
Last week, the union said it will strike at over 200 construction sites, including the Lansdowne Road stadium, power stations and Luas lines, in pursuit of a €2.49-an-hour pay rise.
- Anne-Marie Walsh Industry Correspondent
