Bus employees set to become next casualties of spending cuts

HUNDREDS of staff at Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann look set to become the latest casualties of the recession as both companies prepare for sweeping cutbacks.

Up to 200 jobs are expected to be lost at Bus Éireann alone after it said it had carried out a detailed review of all costs “in light of the financial problems facing the company as a result of the economic downturn”.

The results of that review and Dublin Bus’s plans to address the situation will be presented to staff and trade unions on Friday. It is likely the company will announce it wants to cut its services by as much as 10%.

Bus Éireann also blamed its financial problems on the recession and said it would be apprising staff of its problems next Tuesday.

Neither company would confirm they are to cut jobs or services. However, Transport Minister Noel Dempsey did confirm that 2009 would be a “difficult year” for travel services in the country and that services would have to be curtailed.

Meanwhile, as Taoiseach Brian Cowen and Finance Minister Brian Lenihan prepare to outline sweeping cuts in the public service, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions will today hand to the Government its own submission on the way forward for the economy. The document was still being drafted last night, but is expected to include demands for a broadening of the tax base.

The Irish Nurses Organisation (INO) yesterday threatened legal action against the Government if there were any pay cuts against its members.

In a strongly worded statement reacting to what it described as the “possible illegality” of union pay cuts, the INO said its members were “unanimously” supporting the Irish Congress of Trade Unions’ (ICTU) refusal to enter any discussions that could lead to nurses, midwives, teachers or gardaí salaries being slashed.

In recent days the Government body, “An Bord Snip Nua”, headed by economist Colm McCarthy, which has been tasked with finding savings across the public sector has indicated that pay cuts will be implemented, with nurses and midwives potentially affected by the move.

But warning that any such “unilateral action” would not be accepted by health service workers, INO general secretary Liam Doran said a legal response from the union could be on the cards if pay cuts are pushed through.

“The INO, in keeping with other public sector unions, will not enter into any discussions which are convened to consider pay cuts of any shape or form,” warned Mr Doran.

“We are taking legal advice on this matter and will not hesitate to use every legal instrument at our disposal to defend the interests, living standards and terms and conditions of our members.

“The difficulties facing this country must be addressed, by all in Irish society in equal measure, according to their ability to pay. Nurses and midwives, because of cutbacks and existing pressures on the health service, are likely to experience the worst impacts of the economic downturn in physical and monetary terms,” he said.

At an executive council meeting of the INO yesterday, the union unanimously voted in favour of a motion supporting the ICTU’s refusal to take part in pay cut talks.

The union said it would be “counter productive, deflationary and wholly unfair” to ask any nurse “who is already overworked and often working in overcrowded, difficult environments” to consider a salary reduction.