Bus strike: Fresh talks scheduled in bid to avert stoppage

New talks are to take place in a bid to avert a second planned bus strike by staff at Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann which is scheduled to take place next Friday and Saturday.

The Labour Relations Commission has invited unions and management to attend the talks on Monday afternoon.

A two-day strike at the beginning of the month by members of Siptu and the National Bus and Rail Union (NBRU) in the companies affected the travel plans of hundreds of thousands of passengers.

The companies are understood to have lost about €3 million as a result of the industrial action.

The companies argued that the strike was illegal and they have initiated legal proceedings against the trade unions in a bid to recoup the financial costs incurred.

The unions have strongly denied the chargethat the strike was unlawful and have insisted that they are engaged in a legitimate trade dispute.

Previous talks atthe Labour Relations Commission aimed at finding a resolution to the dispute broke down without agreement.

The row centres on plans by the National Transport Authority (NTA), backed by the Government, to put out to tender 10 per cent of routes operated by the two State-owned bus companies.

The unions fear that if the State companies lost any of the existing routes this could lead to a deterioration in the terms and conditions of their members.

Minister for Transport Paschal Donohoe has provided assurances that no existing employee of Dublin Bus and Bus Éireannwould be forced to transfer to any private operator against their will even if any of the State companies lost to rights to run existing routes.

The State companies will be permitted to take part in the tendering process for the routes.

Unions are also concerned that further routes could be put out to tender in the next wave of reforms in the sector in 2019.

NBRU general secretary Dermot O’Leary said his union would be attending the new talks.

However he indicated that a deal on would require an all -party commitment to address all of the issues of concern. He said these included no staff transferring (to a private operator), no legacy cost consequences for staff, the extraction of labour costs from the current tendering process , and the introduction of a regulatory regime with teeth that would ensure that a breach of contract on agreed employment terms and conditions would be met with penalties, inclusive of the ultimate sanction of contract termination.

“For some time now it has been quite clear to us that the savings to the taxpayer argument being promulgated by the National Transport Authority is almost exclusively based on labour costs .”

Mr O’Leary also said: “The NBRU are on record as highlighting our concern in relation to the public bus companies exposure to potentially losing all of their routes in 2019.

“ The clear contradiction between this position and the Minister’s recent comments on the future strength of both companies going forward can only be reconciled by verifiable definitive assurances as part of any potential solution to this dispute .”