Sir, - Frank Me Donald's article on the current crisis in CIE (August 22nd) is most welcome. The fact that this Government will invest just £2 million next year, to meet the transport needs of the majority of ordinary Dubliners, is an insult. That almost" four times as much is to be spent on legal fees for the Beef Tribunal says it all.
Like many of my colleagues in Dublin Bus, I am puzzled by the constant use of "EU law" to justify attacks on our pay and conditions. I do not remember being" told, at the time of the Maastricht Referendum, that a "yes" vote would result in the deregulation of public transport in Ireland, in line with Thatcher's project in Britain.
Frank McDonald refers to "featherbedding, which not even the trade unions could justify". Lets be clear about one thing: the bulk of the savings identified by CIE is located in the wage packets and conditions of workers like myself. I find the notion that I have been "feathering my bed" in Dublin Bus hilarious. For an extremely stressful job, on unsocial hours and in many cases in danger of assault, we are paid a mediocre wage. Many are compelled to work overtime, just to meet day to day living expenses.
Behind all the talk of"competition" and "cost efficiency" lies an agenda which, as Frank McDonald rightly points out, has nothing to do with providing a decent transport service. It has everything to do with squeezing public sector workers, who can then be accused of "feathering their," beds" and not facing the realm world of free market competition.
Frank McDonald, and anyone else genuinely interested in a properly funded, reliable, public transport service, would do well to remember that such a service cannot exist if the workforce involved is to be reduced to penury. I am certain that the treatment and conditions of bus drivers in Stockholm, Amsterdam or Paris far surpass those in Dublin. It is no accident that the quality of the transport service provided does so as well. - Yours, etc.,
Bus driver,
Phibsboro Garage, Dublin Bus.