Dublin Bus staff pay claim ‘genuine case’, says McGrath

Dublin Bus workers have a "genuine case" in their claims for a pay rise, Independent Alliance TD Finian McGrath has said.

Mr McGrath is the first Government TD to indicate support for the striking workers’ claims. Unions are seeking increases of 15 per cent over three years as well as payment of a 6 per cent rise dating back to a national wage deal in 2008.

Speaking on the Claire Byrne show on RTÉ Radio One on Saturday he said the strikes, which halted bus services in the capital twice last week with a further 48-hour work stoppage scheduled to take place next Friday and Saturday, were a "very serious issue, first of all for the bus workers who I believe personally have a genuine case, and also the 400,000 commuters".

Another 11 days of strikes have been announced for October.

When asked if he supported the workers’ 15 per cent pay claim Mr McGrath said: “I think they have a genuine case and I’ve talked to them over the last 48 hours myself as some of them live in my constituency, some of them are supporters of mine, and I think they have a case.”

He said the only way to resolve the dispute was through the Workplace Relations Committee (WRC). “The way to resolve it is to get in there to the WRC, sit down and hammer this with no preconditions at all. That is the way to resolve this issue and that is Shane Ross’s position as well.”

Minister for Transport, Shane Ross, Mr McGrath's Independent Alliance colleague, on Friday reiterated that the Government will not be opening its chequebook to resolve the industrial dispute at Dublin Bus, which has now resulted in four days of strikes.

Mr Ross said it would be “wrong and counter-productive” to make a “high-profile intervention”. He urged unions and management to get together as quickly as possible for talks, but added that the Government would not be “opening the chequebook for them”.

He said he was monitoring the situation on an hourly basis, but said it was up to both sides in the dispute to “settle the issue”.

Mr Ross said he had great empathy for commuters and businesses affected by the ongoing strike action, and had “enormous regret” about the situation.

Meanwhile he said that a move to open the bus lanes to traffic on the days of bus strikes was still under consideration by his department.

However, Mr Ross warned that the advice he was receiving, particularly from the Road Safety Authority, was that such a move might have serious safety issues.

Bus drivers who are members of the National Bus and Rail Union are also looking for pay parity with tram drivers on the Luas light rail system, who secured an 18 per cent rise last June following a lengthy dispute.

Dublin Bus has said it cannot afford to pay flat increases of any more than the 8.2 per cent over three years recommended several weeks ago by the Labour Court but which was rejected by staff.

It has said it would be willing to discuss higher increases but that they would have to be linked to productivity measures. Unions have said they would discuss productivity but only after they received a higher flat rate increase.