Talks resume in attempt to avert a second 48 hours of bus strike chaos

TALKS to avert this weekend’s threatened bus strike resume today.

Employers and unions have been negotiating at the Labour Relations Commission since Monday afternoon – more than one week on from the 48-hour strike held over the Bank Holiday weekend.

If no settlement can be found, the 48hour strike planned for this coming Friday and Saturday will go ahead.

Hundreds of thousands of passengers were affected by the last strike which is estimated to have cost €20million in lost custom to businesses and around €2.7million to Bus Éireann and Dublin Bus.

The two unions involved, SIPTU and the National Bus & Rail Union, are looking for verifiable assurances on issues arising from the opening of 10 per cent of Bus Éireann and Dublin Bus routes to private operators next year – and the renewal in 2019 of the State-owned bus companies’ five-year contract to operate the remaining routes.

Unions fear a ‘race to the bottom’ in terms of pay and conditions – something the National Transport Authority has denied.

Talks collapsed last Thursday week when unions walked out of the LRC over their perception of the employers’ reluctance to agree on basic issues. Five more days of strikes between now and the end of May are still set to go ahead unless a deal can be agreed.

The next planned stoppage is May 15 and May 16 and the rest are the last three days of the month.

If all five days go ahead, the total cost to the bus companies could wipe out any savings the bus companies have achieved from cost-cutting measures.

They could lose a combined €11million in ticket sales and daily fines from the NTA for leaving passengers stranded.

The companies have made it clear they intend suing the unions for not just the lost tickets sales but also reputational damage.