Bus strike affects 200,000 in Northern Ireland

Trade unions and management remain bitterly divided today as a one-day bus strike threatens traffic chaos across Northern Ireland…

Trade unions and management remain bitterly divided today as a one-day bus strike threatens traffic chaos across Northern Ireland.

Around 200,000 people were affected by the pay dispute as more than 300 buses were kept off the roads. The strike by Ulsterbus and Citybus drivers got under way at midnight.

Police opened bus lanes to motorists to ease traffic congestion and commmuters were urged to share cars.

Hundreds of drivers manned pickets at bus depots across Northern Ireland as commuters made alternative arrangements to get to work and take their children to school.

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The bus drivers, who earn a basic salary of around €13,500 topped up by overtime, had turned down a 3.5 per cent pay rise offer from their parent company Translink.

A revised offer of 5.7 per cent, with an extra day off and "minor restructuring" to working practices, was also rejected.

The TGWU and GMB unions pointed out that an EU directive will also reduce drivers' overtime, affecting their earnings.

An 11th-hour bid by Translink to have the strike declared illegal failed in the High Court in Belfast yesterday after four hours of legal argument.

Translink spokesman Ciaran Rogan said: "They [the drivers] wanted a no-strings deal. They were offered that - 3.5 per cent plus a day's holiday and earnings of €18,000. That seems reasonable, a fair offer. It was accepted by other groups," he said.

But John Coffey of the TGWU told BBC Radio Ulster: "They [Translink] were not over the last six months willing to come up with clearcut ideas for modernisation.

The unions have warned that today's strike is the first in a series of weekly strikes if Translink do not revise their pay offer.

PA