Commuters face travel chaos and an all-out bus strike after talks between Bus Éireann and unions collapsed.

Hundreds of Irish Water staff are in line for large lump sums of money, with the resumption of controversial bonus payments. These are expected to be paid next month, with a 2.2% pay rise.

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THOSE of a certain age may recall Britain’s industrial crisis of the late 1970s that paralysed our nearest neighbour and brought Margaret Thatcher to power.

"The time for talking shops is over", according to the head of the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI).

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has denied it took a series of brutal gangland murders for his Government to address long-term problems in Dublin’s north inner city, as he launched a high-profile campaign for the area.

A former employee at Coolmore Stud has been refused injunctions preventing its lawyers writing to booksellers and distributors alleging his book contained defamatory material in breach of the rights of Coolmore and others.

Labour Relations Commission chairman Kieran Mulvey is to be drafted in to mediate a dispute between St Vincent’s Hospital and The National Maternity Hospital.

A High Court judge has granted injunctions to five psychiatric nurses at the HSE’s Aras Attracta facility in Co Mayo restraining the HSE proceeding with an internal investigation into complaints against them.

A group of catering workers at UCD are to receive an early Christmas present of €1,100 each in exchange for surrendering their perk of free Coca Cola, Mars Bars, and other ‘luxury consumables’, along with the loss of overtime at the main Belfield campus restaurant.

One week on from Michael Conlan’s world championship final win, officials from the Irish Amateur Boxing Association (IABA) were last night preparing a defence for the increasing criticism launched at them following the resignation of Billy Walsh.

IO Systems, the company at the centre of the postal dispute, promotes itself with the slogan, ‘Conveying Smart Solutions’, writes Caroline O’Doherty

Postal services have suffered serious disruption after an official strike by subcontractors responsible for maintenance of the automated sorting systems at An Post’s four main mail centres.

A new industrial relations system comes into effect today.

Millions of euro in public money have been lost by government departments and state agencies through sloppy practices and ill-conceived projects, the national spending watchdog has found.

State-funded hospitals were owed some €290m by health insurers for private patient treatment at the end of last year.

Ministers have been accused of standing over a bonus culture at Irish Water after welcoming pay boosts for workers at the utility.

Irish Water employees are to receive pay increments of between 1.5 to 3% until the end of next year, after which they will be able to receive “performance-related awards”.

IRISH WATER must be the most accident-prone institution ever established here. Since its inception, it has been the subject of impassioned debate and trenchant criticism — not without reason.

Here’s a briefing on some of the stories and issues highlighted on irishexaminer.com today.

Thousands of commuters could face travel disruption following a decision by train driver unions to ballot for industrial action after talks with Iarnród Éireann broke down last week.

The entire rail network could be ground to a halt as early as the end of this month after talks between unions and Irish Rail broke down at the Labour Relations Commission last night.

A select group of local authority workers are set to lose the ‘rain’ allowance they have been receiving for lifting bins in wet weather.

Unions at Irish Rail have warned of possible industrial action by train drivers in the autumn amid anger over extra responsibilities they say are being heaped on them without any reward.

A row over staffing and the postponed opening of a high-observation ward at a new €15m psychiatric unit led to an eight-month delay in transferring patients. Mental health nurse Des McSweeney was one of those who resisted the move, which finally took place last week. He wonders how much longer the high-obs area will remain in darkness

The National Ambulance Service and trade union Siptu are set for talks at the Labour Relations Commission over concerns that pregnant paramedics may be forced to take unpaid time off before their maternity leave starts.

Members of the Psychiatric Nurses Association (PNA) have voted in favour of accepting proposals that will help pave the way for the opening of a new €15m psychiatric unit following a six-month delay.

Hundreds of Irish Water workers are set to take action in order to receive controversial bonuses initially outlined in their contracts, in a politically sensitive move that comes at exactly the wrong time for Government.

More than 7,700 patients waited on trolleys for admission to hospital last month — the worst figures for the month of May since records began, according to the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO).

Michael Noonan’s Department of Finance faces having to endorse a looming pay rise agreement in the coming weeks for 5,500 staff at AIB, the lender bailed out at a cost of €20 billion to taxpayers.

Despite the outcry after two women over the age of 100 spent over 24 hours on hospital trolleys, the Department of Health has defended its plan to tackle overcrowding in emergency departments.

The Mandate trade union is going to ballot its 4,000 members at Penneys for a 2% pay rise in the coming weeks.

The Psychiatric Nurses Association has described as “unique” the action of nurses who voted against transferring to a new €15m acute psychiatric unit despite three in five being offered an incentive to do so.

The battle to get a new €15m acute psychiatric unit open at Cork University Hospital (CUH) remains deadlocked. All bar four out of 42 nurses have voted not to transfer to the new facility on the grounds that the HSE has not fully addressed their clinical concerns. One of those nurses, Des McSweeney, highlighted his worries in an Irish Examiner article on March 16. For a while, he was put off duty with pay. Despite a no vote, Des is concerned that nurses will be overruled by the Labour Court, where the dispute is now headed.

A second nurses’ union has rejected proposals aimed at ending an impasse that has already caused a four-month delay in the opening of a €15m acute psychiatric unit at Cork University Hospital.

Efforts to end a row that has led to a four-month delay in opening a €15m psychiatric facility received a major setback after nurses last night unanimously rejected proposals by the Labour Relations Commission.

Bus Éireann and Dublin Bus have not ruled out legal action over lost revenue against its drivers’ unions in spite of a deal that averted today’s 48-hour bus strike.

Cancer nurses at Cork University Hospital (CUH) have begun balloting on proposals designed to end a dispute over staffing levels on the oncology ward.

With plans to open an acute psychiatric unit at Cork University Hospital running five months behind schedule, a senior HSE manager has issued a plea to nursing staff to transfer to the new facility.

The National Bus and Railworkers Union says it will be attending talks today in "resolution mode".