Talks unlikely to stop planned two-day strike at Dublin Bus

A two-day bus strike in Dublin looks set to go ahead this week although talks between the main unions and Dublin Bus resume at the Labour Relations Commission this morning.

The strike by more than 2,000 drivers is due to begin tomorrow unless today's efforts to avert it are successful. Drivers are seeking a 20 per cent pay rise.

The general secretary of the National Bus and Railworkers' Union, Mr Peter Bunting, said yesterday that he was "very pessimistic of getting an outcome [from today's talks] that would avert the two-day strike".

Negotiating teams from the NBRU and SIPTU met yesterday to discuss a productivity deal put to unions on Saturday by Dublin Bus. The outcome of this meeting will form the basis of the unions' stance in today's talks.

Mr Bunting said the company had put forward a list of requirements on Saturday, intended to increase productivity.

"It's a long and complex list, but basically it would involve taking money from one sector of workers to pay another," he said. "It would also mean increasing the working week. And those things just aren't for sale."

Mr Joe Collins, spokesman for Dublin Bus, said meeting the unions' pay demands would cost the company £8.5 million, hence the need for an increased productivity deal. Describing Saturday's meeting as preliminary, he said: "A lot of negotiating is yet to be done".

Tomorrow's strike would be the second in a series of stoppages, which, without a resolution to the dispute, could see a three-day strike next week and the beginning of an all-out stoppage the following week. Last Tuesday bus-drivers held a one-day strike.

Although chaos was predicted last Tuesday most commuters agreed that traffic moved faster through the city as bus lanes and Quality Bus Corridors were opened to all traffic.

It is thought unlikely, however, that commuters would be so tolerant of longer bus strikes, and the Automobile Association has warned that traffic problems would worsen with strike escalation. The NBRU and SIPTU are seeking increases in the basic minimum pay of £204 per week to £269. The claim is made on the basis of private sector comparisons, although it would breach Partnership 2000.

A recent review of Dublin Bus was critical both of the company's failure to manage change and of the unions' inflexibility.