Dublin Bus unions expected to serve strike notice

Trade unions representing staff at Dublin Bus are expected to serve notice for strike action at the company in the coming days, in the pursuit of pay increases of up to 31 per cent.

Unions at the State-owned bus company are to meet today in a bid to try to determine a common strategy.

However, it is expected that they will consider stoppages of 24- or 48-hour duration.

Any stoppages could affect the travel plans of about 334,000 passengers each day.

The unions will have to give Dublin Bus at least seven-days’ notice of planned strikes.

The move comes after staff at the company rejected a Labour Court recommendation of pay increases of 8.2 per cent over three years.

Unions at the company are seeking increases of about 15 per cent over three years, dating back to January this year, as well as a 6 per cent rise originally due in 2009, under the former Towards 2016 national agreement, which was never paid.

However, bus drivers represented by the National Bus and Rail Union are looking for pay parity with drivers on the Luas light rail system, which could involve increases of up to 31 per cent.

The unions involved in the talks on Monday include Siptu, the National Bus and Rail Union, the Transport Salaried Staffs' Association, Unite and the TEEU.

Luas deal

Drivers operating the privately-run but State-funded Luas light rail system secured increases of about 18 per cent over four years in June, following a lengthy industrial dispute and several days of strike action.

Staff at Dublin Bus have argued that the Luas dispute revealed for the first time the pay gap that existed between them and workers in the privately-operated light rail system.

Dublin Bus employs about 3,200 workers in various grades across the company.

Minister for Transport Shane Ross expressed his disappointment at the outcome of the union ballots against the Labour Court pay recommendation and urged unions and management "to re-engage as soon as possible with a view to an early settlement".