Train drivers’ strike - Contempt for rail users must end

Finance Minister Brian Cowen was certainly reflecting public opinion when he stated that the two-day unofficial rail strike gave the public service a bad name and should not be repeated.

It is curious that the Minister for Finance was speaking on behalf of the Government on this issue, rather than the Transport Minister, Martin Cullen.

Both sides have been trying to blame each other. While the train drivers apparently had a very weak case at the outset, the company seemed more concerned with discrediting them than serving the public, which should have been the main aim.

It is a maxim of good business practice that the customer should always come first, but in this instance customers have been dreadfully and scandalously mistreated.

This must never be allowed to happen again.

It would not have taken much foresight at the outset to reach to the kind of understanding that has allowed the trains to run again. But there has been so much posturing on both sides, even in relation to the most recent understanding, that one must question their understanding of public service.

Those on both sides of this dispute are supposed to be providing a service for the public, not the other way around. If they do not understand that, it is time they got the message, loud and clear.