School damaged by arson to reopen

A SCHOOL in Co Dublin will reopen today despite an arson attack. A stolen car was driven early yesterday through the front do or of the building and set alight.

The fire at Rockford Manor, secondary school, Blackrock, caused smoke damage and destroyed the wood and glass front, door. A classroom window was also broken and some water damage was caused.

The car, a Vauxhall Cavalier was stolen during a burglary in Stillorgan earlier in the morning and gardai are investigating he, possibility that the thieves might have left fingerprints on the car and "torched" it to destroy any" evidence.

An off-duty garda was passing by the school on Stradbrook Road at about 6 a.m. when he saw the flames and alerted the local station at Kill-o'-the-Grange. Several units of the fire brigade were called out and hosed the burning car, which had been driven under the parapet of the front entrance.

Garda forensic scientists yesterday sifted through the damage, and an insurance assessor was expected to assess the destruction and cost of repair.

Staff at the 430-pupil school were shocked and upset by the fire but believe they were "very lucky" the garda had seen it and prevented the school being destroyed. Contract cleaners were called in and the school expects to be able to reopen today with most of the 16 classrooms back in use. The school was to have a half-day yesterday because of a Mass to mark the opening of the academic year.

School vandalism is an increasing problem and Mr John White, the assistant general secretary of the Association of Secondary Teachers, Ireland, said it was a matter of concern.

"One school principal contacted us last week with 40 windows broken", he said. "A school I pass has a large sign saying it, is protected by a security company."

Mr White added that vandalism was pushing insurance premiums higher although he understood there was some attempt not to penalise schools which were particularly subject to vandalism.

Bus drivers vote on strike over plan for cost savings

By PADRAIG YEATES

Industry and Employment Correspondent

A NATIONAL strike is threatened at CIE.

Drivers in Bus Eireann begin balloting today on strike action because of a management threat to introduce changes unilaterally on October 14th. Another strike ballot will begin shortly if, as expected, there is a similar breakdown in talks today with Dublin Bus management.

Bus Eireann wants to introduce cuts of £6 million, and cuts of £8 million are sought in Dublin Bus, in order to preserve the viability of the companies in a competitive market. Talks at Bus Eireann broke down last Friday.

One of the unions concerned, the National Bus and Railworkers' Union (NBRU), is balloting its members in all three CIE companies, Bus Eireann, Dublin Bus and Iarnrod Eireann because of the looming confrontation over the implementation of radical cost-saving measures.

The general secretary of the union, Mr Peter Bunting, said yesterday that Bus Eireann management was planning to introduce changes unilaterally in schedules and work practices.

"On the premise that plans being drafted by consultants for CIE in its other subsidiary companies are also not open for negotiation, and that these proposals have been sanctioned by the Minister for Transport, Mr Lowry, we have decided to ballot all our members." Mr Bunting said the CIE unions were fighting for the basic right to negotiate change.

The NBRU has over 2,200 members in CIE, which employs 9000 workers. The union represents a majority of the drivers and conductors in Bus Eireann and Dublin Bus, as well as most of the locomotive drivers in larnrod Eireann. The ballot should be completed by next Wednesday.

SIPTU, the largest CIE union, is to ballot Bus Eireann drivers only"

at this stage. The result should be known by Monday. However the national SIPTU negotiating committee for drivers in Bus Eireann is also recommending that the union ballot other union members as well.

Mr Ken Fleming, the official representing drivers, says if Dublin Bus management adopts the same stance today as Bus Eireann" did last week, then a further strike ballot is inevitable.

A spokesman for CIE described the NBRU decision to ballot all members in CIE as "unusual and unnecessary, given that the only section of CIE involved is Bus Eireann".

Meanwhile a dispute has broken out between SIPTU and the NBRU over alleged poaching of members. In a strongly-worded, circular to NBRU members, Mr Bunting accused SIPTU representatives of involvement in "a recruitment campaign which consists solely of denigrating this union, specifically our ability to pay dispute payments.

"This pathetic attempt to blackmail and frighten members of this union into joining SIPTU, through preaching doom and gloom will, as it has always done over 30 years, fail and fail miserably".

Mr Bunting said yesterday the allegation that the NBRU would not be paying strike pay in the event of a dispute was untrue.

Mr Fleming, for SIPTU, described the NBRU circular as "unwarranted and predictable". He said that SIPTU was "in the business of organising the unorganised, but the NBRU is only in the business of trying to organise SIPTU members". He said that his branch would be writing formally to the SIPTU general secretary, Mr Billy Attley, to raise the matter with the NBRU.