Dublin Bus strike a possibility after pay recommendation

With the country already facing the likelihood of some sort of industrial unrest in second level schools in the autumn, there is now also a growing potential for strikes in Dublin Bus.

The Labour Court recommendation on pay for the 3,300 staff at the State -owned transport company came as a great disappointment to trade unions.

The Court proposed pay rises of 2.75 per cent annually for three years or 8.25 per cent in total. There is also provision for the potential of further rise for Dublin Bus staff linked to productivity changes.

However unions had been seeking increases, in some cases, of up to 31 per cent.

The unions had pinned much of their their hopes on a previous Labour Court recommendation in relation to Luas drivers setting a precedent.

The Luas drivers received more than 18 per cent over four years or so as part of the settlement of their protracted dispute with the operator of the tram system, Transdev, several weeks ago.

Bus workers wanted similar increases to those in Luas at the very least as well as the payment of an out-standing award dating back to an old social partnership agreement several years ago.

Separately, drivers at Dublin Bus contended that the Luas dispute had shone a spotlight on the differences between their pay and that of tram drivers in general. The bus drivers wanted further rises to achieve parity.

Over the last year or so pay increases across the economy have generally been in the region of two - three per cent.

The Luas award was about 4 per cent annually and the Government is likely to be relieved that the Labour Court recommendation for Dublin Bus workers is firmly in line with the previous two- three per benchmark.

The Government has been quite aware over recent weeks of the potential for the Luas dispute and its settlement terms to spill over into other parts of the transport sector and even into the general public service in the months ahead.

Staff at Bus Éireann and Iarnród Éireann - also part of the broader CIE group - already have pay claims in the pipeline.

The trade unions Siptu and the NBRU are now expected to ballot their members on the Labour Court pay recommendations.

It could well be that members will accept the Labour Court recommendations and such a decision could set its own benchmark for the other CIE companies.

However it is understood that the NBRU told the Labour Court during the recent hearings on Dublin Bus that if it recommended lower increases than those proposed for Luas workers then the message that its members would take would be that a dispute would be necessary to bring about real pay rises.

Siptu said on Wednesday that unless an improved pay offer was made by the company there was a “strong possibility” of industrial action by its members in Dublin Bus in the near future.

Ballots on the Labour Court recommendation for staff in Dublin Bus are likely to be finalised within the next couple of weeks.

If the proposals are rejected, there would more than likely be a second vote to give the unions a a mandate for industrial action.

Disputes in the CIE sector in recent years have generally involved stoppages of several hours or a day at a time.