Bus Éireann restricts staff calling in sick after surge in absenteeism

Bus Éireann has responded to a surge in absenteeism at the company by introducing restrictions on staff who call in sick when rostered to work shifts attracting premium payments.

The company, at the centre of an industrial dispute with trade unions, said on Friday that absenteeism was running at about twice the national average and that associated sick payments had jumped by 24 per cent in the last fortnight.

“Given the current financial crisis, any work which attracts premium payments (such as weekends) will not be afforded to those who report off duty due to illness - for a period of three weeks,” it said.

Bus Éireann's acting chief executive Ray Hernan told an Oireachtas committee last month that absenteeism at the carrier ran at 6 to 7 per cent.

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‘Naked aggression’

The National Bus and Rail Union (NBRU), in a letter to the company on Friday, described the new restrictions as "naked aggression".

It said the company had reached a new low by seeking to penalise those who had the misfortune of being ill.

An all-out indefinite strike at Bus Éireann is on the cards from February 20th if management presses ahead with plans to implement unilateral cuts to staff earnings as part of a new survival plan.

Meanwhile, Siptu said staff across the State-owned CIÉ transport group were prepared to take "whatever appropriate actions" were necessary to support their colleagues at Bus Éireann.

Siptu said its members at Dublin Bus and Iarnród Éireann had pledged solidarity with staff at Bus Éireann in the current dispute.

It said its members at Dublin Bus would ballot for strike action in a separate dispute over pensions.

Ballot for strike action

The NBRU has already said its members at Dublin Bus will ballot for strike action on the same issue next week. The dispute relates to a commitment in the terms which settled a strike last autumn to make pay rises pensionable by the beginning of February.

Siptu sector organiser Willie Noone said a meeting took place on Friday between the union's representatives at Iarnród Éireann, Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann.

He said the clear consensus was that there was “a strong commitment by Siptu members across these companies to display solidarity with workers in Bus Éireann, whose conditions of employment are currently under vicious attack”.

“It was also highlighted that the likelihood of the dispute spreading to school bus drivers, and the consequential adverse impact this would have to rural areas in particular, is increasing.”