Parties refuse to back down in bus row

DUBLIN Bus passengers on 36 city routes will have little or no service for a second day today as the company and unions refuse to back down in their dispute over the Harristown depot.

SIPTU and the National Bus and Rail Union (NBRU), which between them represent drivers at Dublin Bus, said splinter groups could begin action at other depots within days, meaning even more chaos for the travelling public.

Yesterday morning at 5am a female driver, a member of NBRU, was suspended for failing to operate the new 4a route from the depot. Following her suspension, an official picket involving over 100 drivers began.

That meant 25 routes had no service and 11 routes had only limited service. It is estimated that 60,000 passengers were affected with services to Finglas, Blanchardstown, Ballymun and Swords among the worst hit.

Other areas affected include Donabate, Littlepace, Portrane, Dunboyne, Tyrrelstown, Damastown, Portmarnock, Kinsealy and Kilmore.

A stand-off remained throughout the day and while both sides said they were willing to talk, no negotiations took place.

The company said it would only enter discussions if the drivers returned to work and implemented the 4a and 128 routes which have lead to the impasse.

Last night, there were warnings that militant forces within the bus drivers may decide to escalate the strike in other depots.

The dispute centres around the company’s insistence that the 4a and 128 routes must start, break and end in the city centre rather than at the depot so that schedules can be kept as tight as possible, allowing for a more frequent service.

However, the drivers say by forcing them to start and finish in the city centre, which is 11km away from their depot, the company is breaching a 2004 agreement which said they would be finishing all their duties in the depot.

They claim management is trying to cut costs on the back of extending drivers’ working hours.

However, the company has the support of a labour court decision issued on October 22 which backs its position.

Last night, SIPTU branch organiser Willie Noone apologised to commuters for the disruption to services.

“We are striving the find a solution to the issues and help restore services as soon as possible.

“SIPTU warned the company repeatedly that the unilateral introduction of two new routes today and the suspension of drivers who refused to operate them would trigger a massive escalation of the dispute and this is what happened. It makes it far more difficult to achieve a solution that all sides can live with.

“It is imperative that we do so, but no sustainable settlement is possible on the basis of simply imposing poorer conditions on drivers. This dispute can and will be resolved.”