Bus Éireann dispute: There may be worse to come

The State could be on the brink of its worst transport dispute in years. Already 2,600 staff at Bus Éireann are scheduled to go on strike on Monday and there is growing potential that their colleagues in Dublin Bus and Iarnród Éireann could also become involved.

There is still a week to go before the industrial action commences and further interventions to try to broker a resolution remain a possibility. Technically the process at the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC),which sought to bring about a negotiated settlement last week, remains adjourned rather than over.

It is likely the WRC will keep a close eye on developments in Bus Éireann in the days ahead. But the WRC would need to be confident that an intervention would have a chance of succeeding before it calls the parties in again.

Trouble in the transport sector will play out in the political arena in the days ahead also. Minister for Transport Shane Ross has consistently said it is up to the unions and Bus Éireann management to resolve the company's financial crisis. He has insisted he will be not get involved directly.

FBD back in the black with €11.4m profit but shares down 2.4%

---

Blackstone and Prudential in lead for Bradford & Bingley mortgages

---

Seven in 10 BoI mortgage customers also buy life cover with bank

---

Brexit terrified this CEO: then business jumped 50%

---

Oireachtas transport committee

The Minster is scheduled to appear before the Oireachtas transport committee on Wednesday to discuss Bus Éireann and he is sure to come under heavy pressure from the opposition to intervene personally.

Unions and opposition politicians argue that the Bus Éireann problems are not about a pay dispute – as was the case at Dublin Bus and Luas last year – but rather about a State company facing the prospect of going out of business in a matter of weeks.

Company management has argued that its financial position is deteriorating at an accelerating rate and that it lost €1.5 million in January alone.

The board of the company on Monday moved away from highly controversial elements in its survival plan to immediately target staff earnings directly by cutting overtime rates, premium payments and shift allowances. Unions contend that such an approach would reduce workers’ income by up to 30 per cent.

Roster changes

The company sought to concentrate on securing roster changes, greater efficiencies and work practice reforms – albeit with a warning that terms and conditions would have to come on to the table at a future date.

The unions, however, argued that even these measures represented a bridge too far and announced their plans to go on strike from Monday, when the 55 changes proposed by management come into operation.

For the unions the position was simple. Even though management shied away from directly targeting big ticket pay issues such as overtime rates, a move to reduce or eliminate access to overtime was seen as reducing staff earnings.

The events at Bus Éireann have heightened the prospect of transport chaos for its 110,000 regular passengers. However, the situation could get worse if workers in the other parts of the CIÉ group become embroiled.

Legally the unions cannot bring out their members in Dublin Bus and Iarnród Éireann. But if pickets are placed next week, it is difficult to see employees passing them, particularly in locations where the various CIÉ companies share facilities and staff effectively work side by side.