Dublin Bus drivers have voted by a 68 per cent majority to take strike action from Sunday in a dispute over new routes.
The National Bus and Rail Union (NBRU) in Harristown balloted its members when Dublin Bus proposed new schedules that would mean they finished shifts 11km from where they started.
"We remain available for talks to achieve a resolution to this dispute and avoid unnecessary disruption to services for the public," the NBRU said in a statement.
Dublin Bus wants to introduce improvements to the existing number 4 route from Ballymun to Blackrock and a new route 128 from Baldoyle which serves the city centre and Rathmines.
SIPTU drivers are due to meet tomorrow to discuss their options in the dispute over rosters for new routes with Dublin Bus. They voted by 59 per cent for industrial action if the company attempts to introduce two new cross-city routes unilaterally.
The bus company yesterday said it had the backing of the Labour Court and would introduce new schedules at the depot from next Monday.
It insisted it is not asking the drivers to work longer hours and that they do not have to travel to the depot to pick up their buses. A spokeswoman said Dublin Bus had built 40 minutes travelling time into their shifts to allow them return to the base.
In a statement, drivers based at Harristown said: "When drivers moved to Harristown, the company insisted that all drivers would start, break and finish in the depot. The company did so at the time for operational reasons to do with the garage's distance from the city."
"Drivers believe that the proposed new arrangements will be a fiasco for both the travelling public and drivers. Passengers will be left waiting on buses in the city while relief drivers try to make their way from their parent depot over 11km away."
The drivers said the company has no agreement with their unions on these schedules and that the new routes could have been introduced under existing arrangements.
They said Dublin Bus management was trying to "cut costs on the back of extending drivers working hours" and that the insistence on new schedules was "the real reason for any delay in the roll-out of new routes".
Following the ballot result, Acting General Secretary Michael Faherty said he would be advising the company of the outcome in writing.