Bus and train drivers to strike on Wednesday

Commuters will again be made victim of industrial unrest when public transport workers protest against plans to deregulate the…

Commuters will again be made victim of industrial unrest when public transport workers protest against plans to deregulate the industry on Wednesday with a four-hour work stoppage.

Bus and rail services nationwide will be affected by the action, which will see around 3,000 drivers holding marches across the country between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.

The drivers are protesting plans to break-up CIÉ which they say they have not been consulted about.

The Labour Party have called on the Minister for Transport, Mr Brennan, to arrange a meeting with the unions in an effort to avert the action. Transport spokeswoman, Ms Roisin Shortall criticised at the Minister for his failure to consult unions.

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"Clearly decisions on the future structure of the CIÉ group of companies will have serious implications for workers in those companies. The very least they are entitled to is to hear directly from the Minister himself his plans for their future," she said.

She also said Mr Brennan was taking a "bull-in-a-china-shop" approach to restructuring CIÉ which amounted to abolishing the company.

The company was split into Bus Éireann, Dublin Bus and Irish Rail in the late 1980s in an effort to achieve efficiencies, but Ms Shortall said there had been no noticeable improvements for passengers.

"Commuters are far more interested in having a reliable and economic public transport system than in seeing Minister Brennan shuffle the CIÉ deck again," she said.