Greens have let us down say bus drivers
IRATE bus drivers turned up the heat on the Green Party yesterday, as hundreds of taxi drivers took to the streets demanding a cap on the number of cabs.
Three separate protests turned Dublin into a hub of discontent, with traffic disrupted by taxi drivers marching through the city centre claiming many were now earning less than half the minimum wage.
Placard-wielding bus drivers later accused the Green Party of hypocrisy and betraying its mandate in Government.
They accused the Greens of standing silently by as Dublin Bus withdraws 120 vehicles from the public transport fleet and axes 290 jobs.
Outside the party's offices on Suffolk Street, protest organiser Owen McCormack said the drivers were asking the Green Party to stick to its principles of tackling global warming and reducing CO2 admissions.
"The Greens especially have betrayed us. We didn't expect a whole lot out of Fianna Fail regarding public transport but it is a core Green policy," he said. Many of the 160 recent recruits to Dublin Bus, who have been told they are losing their jobs, joined the protest.
The National Bus and Rail Union (NBRU) shop steward Tommy O'Connor said the unions had refused to negotiate with bus management until the threat of 160 redundancies was lifted.
Green Party transport spokesman Ciaran Cuffe claimed reform of the service offered by Dublin Bus, rather than cuts, was the solution.
He called on the bus company to radically improve services, which would entice people to get out of their cars and onto the public transport network.
Dublin Bus management insisted it was seeking a reduction in costs as a matter of urgency, after it suffered €10m losses last year, and projected €31m losses this year.
Meanwhile a second taxi protest, regarded as unofficial by the main taxi driver union, saw hundreds march through the city centre to demand a cap on the number of licences issued.
Siptu official Jerry Brennan said he receives calls on a daily basis from drivers worried about money.
Mr Brennan claims many drivers are taking home as little as €4 an hour -- less than half the minimum wage of €8.65 -- due to the numbers of taxis in operation.
- Louise Hogan and colm kelpie
