Dublin Bus services to resume today as parties come together for talks
Yesterday afternoon, the court issued an invitation to both unions and management at the company for talks.
A short time later, Siptu said its members would cease their strike action if the company halted its implementation of a €11.7m cost-saving plan recommended by the Labour Court while the talks were taking place.
“The sooner we get this confirmation the sooner our members will return to work and the Dublin Bus fleet can be put back into service,” it said.
That confirmation came soon after when the company issued a statement saying the implementation of the recommendation was being suspended.
Work immediately got under way to ensure buses would be ready to enter service from first thing this morning. A full schedule of services is expected to run today.
The other large union at Dublin Bus, the National Bus and Rail Union, also accepted the invitation.
Talks are due to begin this afternoon but there is no guarantee that they will be successful.
Earlier yesterday, Leo Varadakar, the transport minister, and Alan Kelly, his junior minister, had both said the gap between both sides was “not insurmountable”.
However, Mr Varadkar also pointed out that 14 months of talks on a cost savings plan — involving numerous meetings at the Labour Relations Commission — had not yielded an agreement.
Mr Varadkar had also ruled out a ministerial intervention saying “that’s not the way Ireland works anymore”.
The minister called for “very focused talks, short and sharp”, at the Labour Court that could result in a solution in the coming days.
The longer the strike had continued, the greater pressure it would have put on the over-stretched finances of Dublin Bus.
Management there had said the action was costing it €600,000 for every weekday it continued.
Business leaders in Dublin had also been highly critical of the strike.
“If Dublin employees lose just 30 minutes because of the bus strike the result is 53,431 days lost, a productivity cost of over €4million,” the Small Firms Association said in a tweet yesterday.
If Dublin employees lose just 30 minutes because of the bus strike the result is 53,431 days lost, a productivity cost of over €4 million
— Small Firms Association (@SFA_Irl) August 6, 2013
At the end of 2012, Dublin Bus had an accumulated deficit of €52.2m due to a reduction in its subvention, increased operating costs, and a decline in revenue as a result of fewer trips being taken.
It announced it was seeking to achieve €11.7m annually in savings, of which €7.7m was to come from direct payroll costs and €4m from “efficiency and productivity savings” around the staff’s working arrangements.
There was no attempt to cut core or basic pay for drivers — management face cuts of 3%-5% — but other areas such as overtime and holiday and Sunday shift payments, sick leave arrangements, and annual leave were impacted.
The matter was considered by the Labour Court.
In the recommendation it issued on Jun 17, the court pointed out that the figures the company’s proposals were based upon had been independently examined and verified by two consultants nominated by the unions.
Its recommendation still contained cuts to drivers’ take-home monies, though it said that its recommended terms would only be until the company returned to a “sustainable level of profitability”.
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