An Irish Locomotive Drivers' Association member is taking Iarnrod Eireann to the Labour Court today in a disciplinary case where the company claims he left a train without permission to attend an ILDA function. The incident occurred in January and is separate from the eight cases involving ILDA drivers which led to threats of industrial action this week.
The case is under agreed disciplinary procedures and the court's findings will be binding. This option is open to the other eight drivers if they exhaust the company's internal procedures. The ILDA has argued that the process takes too long and its members are not prepared to be represented, as required under the disciplinary procedures, by SIPTU or the National Bus and Railworkers Union.
The company rejected an invitation yesterday from the Labour Relations Commission to refer three of the disciplinary cases to its service. The proposal had come from the ATGWU in an effort to break the deadlock between the ILDA branch of the union and the company.