Ireland

CIÉ strike committee meets on transport dispute

Last-minute efforts to stop the rail and bus strikes planned for Thursday are under way this evening, with CIÉ's SIPTU strike…

Elaine Edwards
Tue Mar 16 2004 - 00:00

Last-minute efforts to stop the rail and bus strikes planned for Thursday are under way this evening, with CIÉ's SIPTU strike committee discussing the contents of a letter sent by the Taoiseach to the union last night.

No decision has been reached yet.
Business leaders have today urged the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) to intervene to stop the strikes after SIPTU called off its planned six-hour stoppages at Dublin, Cork and Shannon airports.
The Irish Small and Medium Enterprises Association (ISME) called on ICTU to "show leadership" and to intervene in the planned bus and rail dispute in order to prevent public transport services from "coming to a standstill".

ISME chief executive Mr Mark Fielding said: "While we welcome the fact that common sense has prevailed in the airport dispute it is absolutely imperative that ICTU as the representative body of trade unions in Ireland comes out of hiding and takes a tough stance on the bus and rail dispute in order to bring this ludicrous situation to a conclusion.

"To date their silence on the issue has been deafening as has been highlighted by the necessary intervention of the Taoiseach."

Mr Fielding said if the disputes are not resolved "industrial relations anarchy" will prevail and will have long-term consequences for the economy in terms of costs and jobs for t he State, in terms of image and accessibility, and for the partnership process.  He said this process was being "directly attacked" by SIPTU.

"Business is 'sick to the teeth' of being held over a barrel every time SIPTU decides to flex its muscles in order to show who is the biggest boy or girl in the class," he said.

"There is absolutely no doubt that the cause of these disputes is the ongoing levels of inter- and intra-union rivalry, with the militants attempting to gain the higher ground. Their deeds and actions will invariably prove to be counterproductive if the bus and rail dispute goes ahead."
Mr Fielding said if partnership is to survive, it is imperative that ICTU "gets off the fence and either negotiates and implements a settlement, or reprimands SIPTU for their intractable stance by excluding them from any future partnership discussions".

The Chambers of Commerce of Ireland (CCI) earlier accused SIPTU of "trying to run the country over the head of the Government by halting public transport on Thursday".

CCI chief executive, Mr John Dunne, said private operators should be allowed to minimise the effect of the bus and rail strike, which threatens to cause transport chaos on the day after St Patrick's Day.

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Mr Dunne called on the Minister for Transport, Mr Brennan, to allow private bus operators to pick up passengers on routes which are served exclusively by Dublin Bus company until the dispute is resolved.

SIPTU's national industrial secretary Mr Michael Halpenny has insisted the union deferred industrial action several times previously to allow the talks process on the future of the companies to continue.

Mr Halpenny has also apologised for the inconvenience caused to the public but insisted the lack of meaningful progress on talks and remarks by the Minister had raised questions about security of employment and terms and conditions of employment for transport workers.