The first sign of a breakthrough in the two-week rail dispute emerged yesterday, with the possibility of the Labour Relations Commission looking at the striking drivers' grievances individually.
There is also a danger that the Irish Locomotive Drivers' Association might move its "bucket collections" to DART and Dublin Bus depots next week, putting pressure on drivers to support them.
Yesterday about 70 of the 130 ILDA members marched to the Labour Relations Commission in Dublin and its executive secretary, Mr Brendan Ogle, handed in more than 120 drivers' grievances. Most complained that the "new deal" was introduced without their consent.
Mr Ogle called on the LRC to use a new statutory instrument, 146/2000, to intervene in the strike.
Later Mr Kieran Mulvey, chief executive of the LRC, said SI 146/2000 was not designed for use where collective agreements with recognised unions existed, but for representation of individual workers lacking recognised trade union representation in a grievance situation.
Asked about Mr Mulvey's interpretation of SI 146/2000, Mr Ogle said he had no problems with it - dealing with his members' grievances individually would be "cumbersome but it would help get us out of the fix we are in".
While he would prefer the ILDA to represent all its members together, he believed the LRC's interpretation of the agreement "would get us over our short-term difficulties" and allow for a return to work.
SIPTU general secretary Mr John McDonnell, who met an ILDA delegation at Liberty Hall, said: "We believe that the `New Deal for Locomotive Drivers' is a good agreement and any concerns of any drivers can be dealt with under it, without affecting the integrity of the agreement."
He said SIPTU had dealt successfully with the problems of some individual members. The ILDA has said it can accept the "template" of the new agreement but has reservations over Sunday working, contingency drivers and safety.
The company could be expected to attend any LRC hearings. However, it is also likely to invoke the industrial peace agreement that requires drivers to work normally until disputes are resolved. The LRC might have to decide what is normal working.
The alternative might be escalation of the dispute. Yesterday individual ILDA members contacted DART and Dublin Bus drivers to sound them out on their reaction if "bucket collections" were extended to Dublin.
Mr Ogle said the ILDA executive had not yet made a decision on extending its collections.