Unions in CIÉ yesterday promised a day of free public transport as part of their campaign against reforms planned by the Minister for Transport, Mr Brennan.
The "no fares day" on Friday, July 18th, is likely to cost Irish Rail, Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann a total of at least €1.5 million in lost revenue. The action is to be followed by a "national day of protest" in August and a series of one-day stoppages, beginning in September.
Mr Brennan said he was surprised at the unions' announcement, as talks were still taking place on the issues. He intends to break up CIÉ into three entities and to open 25 per cent of the Dublin bus market to competition by next January.
Unions are particularly opposed to the entry of private companies into the existing Dublin bus market and also have concerns about the future of CIÉ staff in the event of the company being dismantled.
At a meeting yesterday of all the CIÉ unions, they decided to begin a campaign of opposition to Mr Brennan's proposals with the "no fares day" on July 18th.
Ticket inspectors in Irish Rail, Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann are union members, so it is expected that no fares will be collected or tickets inspected, unless senior management attempt to carry out these tasks.
None of the three companies was able to say yesterday how they would react to a refusal by staff to collect fares. It is thought unlikely, however, that services would be cancelled.
A Dublin Bus spokeswoman said the action would cost the company about €500,000 in lost revenue.
Average daily revenue in both Bus Éireann and Irish Rail is just below that figure, but a loss of fares on their peak day for business, a Friday, would cost them more than €500,000 each.
If the dispute remains unresolved, the unions' next action would be a day of protest, including demonstrations, on Tuesday, August 19th.
One-day stoppages would follow on September 16th, October 14th and November 18th, all Tuesdays. A two-day strike is planned for Monday and Tuesday, December 8th and 9th.
Mr Liam Tobin of the National Bus and Rail Union said the campaign would be intensified during Ireland's presidency of the EU during the first half of 2004.
The unions also reserved the right to escalate the campaign "in the event of the Minister taking unilateral action in the meantime to privatise services".
Mr Noel Dowling of SIPTU said the unions wanted the Minister to "actively engage in a process of meaningful dialogue on all of the issues in dispute and to develop a strategy for the improvement and development of public transport services".
Responding to the unions' campaign, Mr Brennan stressed that he had no proposals to sell Dublin Bus, and there would be no compulsory redundancies as a result of his plans.
At the core of his proposals was a desire to give consumers more choice and better value for money, he said.
He was also seeking to bring greater transparency to the spending of up to €250 million a year of taxpayers' money on subsidising public transport.
The threat of staff refusing to take fares was a matter for the transport companies themselves, he said. "At the end of the day any loss of revenue will damage the CIÉ companies and ultimately come out of taxpayers' pockets."