There were signs of progress in the Dublin Bus dispute yesterday when the Labour Court invited management and unions for separate talks tomorrow morning. The dispute had been deadlocked with management refusing to meet the National Bus and Rail Union (NBRU) until it lifted its strike notice, and the NBRU refusing to meet management if any preconditions were attached to the meeting.
Some 1,100 NBRU drivers went out on strike on Tuesday in pursuit of a 20 per cent pay rise, leaving around 200,000 commuters without a bus service. Another 1,000 SIPTU drivers supported the action.
Notice of two more stoppages on Tuesday and Wednesday of next week has been served by the NBRU. If the dispute has not been settled by then, another three stoppages will follow the week after, and another four the week following that. An all-out strike is planned from March 12th.
Dublin Bus welcomed the invitation as providing hope of a breakthrough. A spokesman for the company said it was "difficult at this stage to say there will be a strike on Tuesday.
"Once the Labour Court becomes involved in a dispute, there is great hope that something positive will come from that."
However, the NBRU said it was likely that Tuesday's strike would still go ahead.
The union's General Secretary, Mr Peter Bunting, said he "wouldn't be very optimistic about the outcome" of the talks tomorrow.
"It's very difficult for the Labour Court given that they've already been involved in this dispute. We have to ask, is this intervention a meaningful one or is it taking place just because someone from the Government said it should?"
Mr Bunting said the Labour Court's intervention could be "a form of posturing. . . designed for the optics of the situation".
However, he said he would accept the Labour Court's invitation. SIPTU welcomed the Labour Court's intervention in the dispute. The union's National Industrial Secretary, Mr Noel Dowling, said a "damaging stand-off" had developed before the invitation to talks. "Somewhere along the line, the trade union objective of securing deserved improvements in the pay and conditions of bus drivers has been lost sight of, as the issue of how talks are to begin rather than when they should begin has been elevated to the status of principle".
He said the union was "nonetheless hopeful that the Labour Court can, with a display of good will on both sides, find a formula which will permit negotiations to commence without further delay or distortion."
Dublin Bus drivers are currently on a basic wage of between £207 and £273 per week. Drivers can earn more from expenses and shift allowances. Many drivers supplement their weekly wage with overtime, but unions are concerned that the scope for this will be curtailed by the introduction of the maximum 48 hour working week.
