Bus strike over as workers agree to proposals

THE week-old strike at Dublin Bus, which had been affecting 60,000 commuters, is over following the acceptance by workers yesterday of a Labour Court peace formula.

Commuter chaos struck the capital last week when more than 100 drivers at a north Dublin garage staged a strike in protest at the planned roll-out of two new bus routes, the 4A from Ballymun to Stradbrook and the 128 from Clongriffin to Rathmines.

The two routes will remain on the timetable, but only drivers who have started work with the company since last January will be expected to work on them.

Pickets were placed on the Harristown depot near Dublin Airport after a woman driver, who had refused to drive a bus on one of the new routes, was suspended by Dublin Bus management.

By the middle of last week, amid fears that the strike was due to spread to other Dublin Bus garages, the chairman of the Labour Court, Kevin Duffy, invited the transport company and the trade unions representing drivers, SIPTU and the National Bus and Rail Workers’ Union (NBRU), to exploratory talks.

Those talks culminated in the ironing out by the Labour Court of a peace settlement which was debated by the unions and subsequently voted on at the weekend.

SIPTU members yesterday agreed to accept the return to work formula following a two-and-a-half hour meeting and ballot at Liberty Hall which was attended by 200 members.

Following the vote, Dublin Bus branch organiser Willie Noone said: “our members have accepted the latest recommendation from the Labour Court and will be returning to normal working on Monday morning. We received clarifications from the Labour Court and the company that normal working includes operation of the two new routes.”

Both SIPTU and the NBRU accepted the Labour Court recommendation in a ballot understood to be 60% in favour. .

However, last night, the National Bus and Rail Workers’ Union, which represents about half of the 500 workers involved, said that while the rosters issue has been resolved and strike action axed, outstanding concerns with the two new routes mean they may not operate today.

Michael Faherty, NBRU general secretary, said that while they were accepting the Labour Court’s recommendations and calling an end to the strike, outstanding issues remained over the two routes.

He said training and the location of where the buses would terminate in the city had to be addressed and that is expected to take up to 48 hours.

The main routes affected by the strike were Finglas, Swords, Ballymun, Blanchardstown, Donabate, Portrane, Dunboyne, Little Pace, Tyrrellstown, Damastown, Portmarnock, Kinsealy and Kilmore.