Unions’ €21m war chest to fund any rail strike action

Enough money to strike for 70 days

RAIL unions have a €21million ‘war chest’ at their disposal should their members back strike action today.

Union chiefs and Irish Rail representatives remained locked in discussions late last night over a workers’ pay claim – which is in line with the 3.75% annual rises already secured by unions and workers at Luas and Dublin Bus.

The National Bus and Rail Union and Siptu, the two main unions representing the majority of staff at Irish Rail, yesterday sat around the table with management from the semi-State company at the Workplace Relations Commission.

As of 11pm last night a senior source involved in the discussions said they were ‘close to a possible proposal’ but added ‘this is always the stage where it could all come tumbling down’ as the talks looked set to continue late into the night.

If the current WRC talks fail, it is likely strike action would start during the October Bank Holiday weekend, one of the busiest weekends of the year in the capital. Senior sources have mooted that any such possible strike action would take the form of short-term stoppages, such as half-day and day-long actions, and continue over a period of six to seven weeks.

Any stoppages are expected to be widespread across the entire network, including InterCity and Dart services.

A source close to the NBRU revealed the union has between €1.5million and €1.75million available in its socalled ‘war chest’. This fund would be made available to pay €40 to staff who are rostered to work on a strike day.

The source also revealed a one-day dispute would cost the union, which represents 650 Irish Rail workers, an estimated €18,000 to €20,000.

This means the union has enough money to strike for approximately 70 days.

Siptu, which has a total of more than 200,000 members, of which 1,900 are Irish Rail workers, has a contingency fund of €19.4million. It would also provide a strike pay rate of €40 per member per day.

Other transport providers yesterday said they would not be able to provide extra services to provide cover during a possible strike.

When asked yesterday if it will provide extra services to deal with discommoded customers, Luas operator Transdev said there will be ‘no extra Luas services’.

Bus Éireann said it will ‘look at the potential of extra services on the busiest routes – where extra demand is identified – and advise customers to book online in advance so this can be assessed’.

It warned this period is ‘one of Bus Éireann’s busiest, with students, commuters and visitors all availing of services’.

A spokesman said: ‘While there may be capacity on some routes to cater for extra demand, there will likely be limited availability on others, as all our fleet and drivers are currently deployed.’

The Coach Tourism and Transport Council of Ireland represents 70 associated private companies across the country. Its national director, Kevin Traynor, said that its members would have to apply to the National Transport Authority to provide additional licenses if any of its members wanted to provide extra services.

The NTA said that private companies cannot operate on routes they are not licensed for or alter their routes in order to facilitate customers who are discommoded.

However, it said there is a provision for the licensing of temporary services which can facilitate the deployment of bus services in exceptional circumstances. ‘The indicative timescale for processing licenses for temporary services is 24 to 48 hours following receipt of a valid application and license fee of €50,’ an NTA spokesman added.

Dermot O’Leary, NBRU general secretary, said: ‘If, as anticipated, our members vote… for industrial action... [to expect] widespread stoppages across our rail network in the run-up to Christmas.’

Irish Rail saidy: ‘Job security of employees, financial viability of Iarnród Éireann, and our ability to deliver our service to our customers are what we want to secure.’ emmajane.hade@dailymail.ie