Rail boss’s plea to end misery of strikes

IRISH Rail boss David Franks has written to employees asking them to encourage their unions to return to the Labour Court – or face the possibility of prolonged strike action.

On the eve of today’s second bout of 24-hour strike action over pay which will discommode 155,000 commuters, Mr Franks issued a note to all of Irish Rail’s 3,800 staff, stating that they should all be ‘most concerned that a prolonged dispute... is becoming possible’.

He issued the statement to staff yesterday before all rail services came to a halt at midnight for the second of five planned days of strike action.

Mr Franks stated in the missive that ‘despite our financial predicament, we want to be in a position to deliver an improvement in earnings to you’. He went on to say: ‘We do not want you to suffer further losses and to see your job security threatened through insolvency.’

He then pressed Irish Rail employees on the role of the unions, writing: ‘It is now time for our trade unions to join with the company in seeking a referral to the Labour Court, and I ask you to support this approach.’

And he warned that a drawn-out dispute ‘with the resulting damage to our customers, our business and your income’ is becoming more likely.

Mr Franks added: ‘Whilst we remain available to try and find a solution to this dispute, I am very disappointed to advise that since last week’s day of action there has been no formal communication from any of the trade unions, this despite our willingness to refer matters back to the Labour Court.’

Unions involved, including the National Bus and Rail Union and Siptu, are seeking a pay claim to the order of 3.75% per year for three years which they say is line with one achieved by Dublin Bus drivers. Talks to avert industrial action broke down in the Workplace Relations Commission on October 19.

Union officials have blamed Mr Franks for pulling the plug on these discussions, but the company has refuted that claim.

Siptu have said the latest 24-hour stoppage is the ‘regrettable result of a failure by management and the Government to seek a just resolution to the dispute at the public transport company’.

Siptu’s Greg Ennis said: ‘Our members do not wish to be returning to the picket lines tonight but they have been left with no alternative.’