Talks to resolve bus dispute due to restart this week

TALKS between the different sides in the Bus Éireann/Dublin Bus industrial dispute are expected to begin again this week.

Discussions collapsed on Thursday when unions walked out of the Labour Relations Commission over a perceived reluctance by the bus companies’ negotiators to agree on basic issues.

As a result, the unions couldn’t see any basis for agreement in what were only exploratory talks and the two-day stoppage of services went ahead.

Five more days between now and the end of May are still scheduled to go ahead unless a deal can be agreed.

The next planned stoppage is May 15 and May 16 (a Friday and Saturday), with the rest falling in the final three days of the month.

If all five go ahead, the total cost to the bus companies could, according to yesterday’s Mail on Sunday, wipe out any savings the bus companies could achieve from cost-cutting measures.

It was reported yesterday that Bus Éireann and Dublin Bus could lose a combined €11million from loss of ticket sales and daily fines from the National Transport Authority for leaving passengers stranded because of the actions by the National Bus and Rail Union and SIPTU.

In a last-ditch attempt to stop the strike, the bus companies threatened legal action if it went ahead.

They have yet to lodge their papers with the courts service, but they have made it clear they intend suing the unions for not just lost ticket sales but also reputational damage.

The key issue in the dispute is the award of 10 per cent of Bus Éireann and Dublin Bus routes to a private operator by 2016.

Another is the renewal in 2019 of the State-owned bus companies’ five-year contract to operate the remaining routes. The unions are seeking written ‘verifiable assurances’ to protect their members who are convinced the hiving off of routes is the start of privatisation – something the NTA has denied.