Bus Éireann Dispute – A fight for all workers and decent public services
The dispute at Bus Éireann has seen over 900 members of SIPTU and hundreds more from other unions on the picket line since mid-March. They are seeking to protect their jobs, wages and conditions of work in the public transport company. These are workers who serve the public, young and old, in routes across rural Ireland and between our towns and cities.
They are seeking to protect their jobs, wages and conditions of work in the public transport company. These are workers who serve the public, young and old, in routes across rural Ireland and between our towns and cities.
Like our members in the Health Service, bus workers provide an essential public service and they earn just about enough to provide a decent life for their families. The company has threatened to, and in some cases, already has cut the pay of drivers and other staff by up to 30% which is unacceptable to our members.
It is patently obvious that there is an attempt to push down the wages and conditions of employment of public transport workers and to facilitate the take-over of profitable routes by private operators whose employees earn minimum wages on precarious contracts.
SIPTU members, and those of other unions in the CIE group, in Iarnrod Éireann and Dublin Bus, are acutely aware of the implications for their jobs if the Bus Éireann workers are forced to accept proposed pay cuts and unilateral changes to their working conditions.
Negotiations are ongoing at the Workplace Relations Commission since Wednesday, 5th April but it is evident to all involved, including the travelling public, that there can be no sustainable solution to the crisis in Bus Éireann without a substantial, and immediate increase in the government subvention for public transport.
There is no efficient public transport service operating in any advanced country in Europe or across the world that is not subvented adequately by central government.
Why should Irish public transport workers, their families and the travelling public be an exception?
You can view all our videos/photos and updates on the SIPTU Facebook and Twitter page and on our Bus Workers Solidarity Page.