A one-day strike by DART drivers scheduled for today has been called off, but other disputes involving transport workers in Iarnrod Eireann and Ryanair are set to worsen this week, causing disruption to thousands of travellers.
The DART strike would have left 50,000 commuters stranded but was halted yesterday after eight hours of talks in the Labour Court. The two unions involved, SIPTU and the National Bus and Rail Union (NBRU), will put new proposals agreed with Iarnrod Eireann on rostering to members this week. A strike by train signallers at Iarnrod Eireann for more pay is still to take place on Wednesday and Thursday and is expected to cause widespread disruption of mainline services.
So far, no talks are planned between the company and unions.
If the dispute is not resolved, the signalmen will engage in a three-day stoppage from November 29th to December 1st. After that they will consider escalating their action.
Ryanair pilots are expected to hold a 24-hour strike, starting from midnight on Thursday, and most flights operated by the airline from Dublin and Shannon will be grounded. Pilots flying from Stansted or European locations are also expected to join the action.
The pilots are members of the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) branch of IMPACT.
The union claims the company wants to abolish a 1994 agreement and impose longer working hours. The company in a statement on Thursday said it would not seek to increase working hours and pilots had been offered a package.
In Iarnrod Eireann, the DART drivers' threatened one-day strike was meant to be the first in a series resulting from a long-running dispute over rostering.
Mr Liam Tobin, of the NBRU, said after the Labour Court talks that in response to the company supplementing proposals on rostering, the unions had agreed to defer their action. They would put the proposals to members this week.