Unions and management at Dublin bus are close to agreement on a plan for its future that may avert strike action at the company, unions said tonight.
Siptu and the National Bus and Rail Union said “substantial progress” had been made in talks today.
They are to meet again with the company tomorrow morning to “clarify and resolve a number of outstanding issues”.
A final document of draft proposals for the company is expected to be ready by lunchtime and will be made available to drivers over the weekend, a statement said.
Information meetings are planned for March 18th and balloting on the terms will take place on March 19th.
“In the meantime there will be no industrial action by drivers or moves to dismiss probationary drivers by the company,” the statement added.
Under the proposed deal, reached earlier this week after several days of talks at the Labour Relations Commission (LRC), the company would proceed with plans to remove 120 buses from its fleet.
However, instead of letting go 160 recently-recruited drivers, the company would offer voluntary redundancy terms to 80 more senior staff. About 80 probationary drivers at the company would be offered work over a four-day week covering Friday and Monday as well as weekends.
The new arrangements would meet Dublin Bus’s objective of reducing overtime levels. It has maintained these levels have to be reduced to save money and to allow the company to operate within legislation banning drivers from working more than 48 hours a week. The proposed deal will also contain work practice changes for drivers.