Sports fans and festival-goers stranded by bus strike
Thousands of Dublin bus passengers were left without transport over one of the busiest bank holiday weekends this year as drivers went on strike.
Some travelling from the Oxygen music festival in Co Kildare, were left without transport. Spectators going to the All-Ireland Senior Football quarter-finals in Croke Park were also affected.
Drivers’ representatives said all services had been cancelled and called on Transport Minister Leo Varadkar to take action.
Dublin Bus has insisted it has no choice but to introduce €11.7m worth of cost-saving measures. Minister Varadkar has called for dialogue.
Dermot O’Leary, assistant general secretary of the National Bus and Rail Union (NBRU), said the Minister “is in the position to use his good offices to effect some sort of action.
“The best thing he can do in the circumstances is back up his statement with some actions.”
Public Transport Minister Alan Kelly said it was a bad day for public transport.
“Today tourists, match-goers, festival-goers and members of the general public are being discommoded because of strike action,” he said.
“This is deeply regrettable and unnecessary in my view. No worker wants to be on strike and management want the company to retain its services.
“Again I would ask all sides to come together in an atmosphere of calm and try and solve these problems once and for all. It is a difficult time for everybody involved in transport in Ireland, whether worker, driver or manager.
“If there is a better way to achieve the level of savings required to secure the future of Dublin Bus, then these need to be tabled and discussed as soon as possible so the public can use the transport service in Dublin.”
Dublin Bus said the action would cost it €200,000 today and €600,000 on each week day.
The company had urged trade unions and employees not to take any steps that will cause inconvenience to customers and financial losses.
Organisers of The Gathering Ireland had predicted the busiest weekend of the year for family and community events.
Around 87 separate events are planned across the country with a huge portion of those happening in Dublin.
The NBRU and Siptu unions served strike notice on Dublin Bus earlier this week.
The struggling bus company is to implement a cost recovery plan from today, which was drafted up following a series of recommendations from the Labour Court.
Dublin Bus has insisted the plan is “critical” to achieve the €11.7m necessary to bring it back to financial stability.
Around two-thirds of that portion – €7.7m – will come from direct payroll costs, with the remaining €4m from efficiency and productivity savings.
Union members rejected the plans in a number of recent ballots, despite talks between company bosses and workers across all grades.
The NBRU has claimed that members had already “suffered enough” from cost-saving measures implemented in 2009.
Dublin Bus insisted it has “no option but to proceed” with its plans to implement the Labour Court’s recommendations.
