The prospect of further industrial relations difficulties in the State transport sector is set to increase this week with potential new disputes emerging at Dublin Bus and Iarnród Éireann, the State-owned railway.
The National Bus and Rail Union (NBRU) has told members it will commence a ballot for strike action at Dublin Bus later this week if a row over pensions is not resolved in the coming days .
Separately, trade unions will press for pay increases for staff at Iarnród Éireann in talks with management, which are due to commence at the Workplace Relations Commission on Monday.
The moves come as 2,600 staff at Bus Éireann are scheduled to begin an all-out indefinite strike from February 20th over a radical survival plan drawn up by management.
Unions at Iarnród Éireann had sought increases of about 20 per cent, though a more realistic objective is likely to be the annual 3.75 per cent increase secured by staff in Dublin Bus following a strike last autumn.
A spokesman for Iarnród Éireann said the company was happy to engage constructively with trade unions on the issue of earnings.
However the company said it had to ensure that it could “respond to increases in demand, while being acutely aware that we remain one misstep away from insolvency due to accumulated deficits from recent years”.
Continued efficiency and flexibility were essential, the company said, if it was to be in position to respond to improved wages.
Further deferral
The row at Dublin Bus relates to the implementation of the agreement which ended the strike last September. Under this deal, the overall 11.25 per cent increase over three years was to become reckonable for pension purposes from the beginning of February.
It is understood that at talks last week, unions were asked to agree to a further deferral of this deadline to facilitate negotiations on pension reforms across the broader CIE group of State transport companies.
It is understood that the NBRU has signalled to members that if the pay increases set out in the deal with Dublin Bus were not made pensionable, as set out in the settlement agreement, then the union will announce a ballot for strike action within the next few days.
Last week Siptu said that there were a number of disputes bubbling below the surface in the broader CIE group.
It warned that the planned strike at Bus Éireann could spread to Dublin Bus and Iarnród Éireann.
Unions have maintained that the planned all-out indefinite strike at Bus Éireann will go ahead if management moves to unilaterally implement a radical survival plan involving major cuts to staff earnings, which it is considering in an attempt to improve its precarious financial position.
Under this survival plan, significant reductions to premium payments, overtime and allowances would be put in place.
