Bus Éireann may seek intervention of Labour Court

Bus Éireann will seek the intervention of the Labour Court if trade unions do not agree to take part in talks on its survival plan for the company. However, a spokeswoman for the company said any such process must take place over a period of weeks, not months. The company said its losses were accelerating.

A number of unions have said they will not accept an invitation by the company to attend talks next week to discuss radical proposals, including redundancies and cuts to premium payments and allowances as well as out-sourcing. Unions have pledged to resist the company’s proposals which they maintain would see their members’ earnings reduce by up to 30 per cent.

Bus Éireann has argued its financial position is unsustainable, and without action to tackle its cost base and inefficiencies it will go out of business within two years.

Senior management at Bus Éireann are scheduled to attend a meeting of the Oireachtas committee on transport next week.

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Unions are expected to meet next week to discuss a common strategy to oppose the management’s proposals.

Unsustainable losses

Minister for Transport Shane Ross said on Thursday that finding a resolution to the problem of unsustainable losses at Bus Éireann was a matter for management and trade unions. A spokeswoman for the Minister said it was clear the company’s proposals had been “offered for negotiation along with an invitation to begin discussions”.

Mr Ross told the Dáil that Bus Éireann was losing €6 million a year, and that this was not as a result of the State’s subvention to the company but rather due to losses being run up by its commercial Expressway arm, which faced intense competition from private operators. He said rural communities would not be abandoned as a result of any decisions by Bus Éireann to discontinue operating any existing routes. He said the National Transport Authority had clarified it could and would “step into any area, assess the transport needs and ensure continued public transport connectivity”.