Bus Éireann services to operate tomorrow

Bus Éireann has confirmed that it will operate all scheduled services tomorrow, as crunch talks with unions continue this evening.

The company said agreement had not yet been reached in talks and are continuing under the Labour Relations Commission.

However Bus Éireann said it had come to an arrangement that unions would give a minimum 24 hours notice of service disruption, if talks do not lead to agreement. This was to provide certainty to customers and help them to plan ahead. They advised customers to check Buseireann.ie for updates.

The vast majority of its services are operating normally today. The union had suspended strikes that brought its fleed to a halt until tomorrow morning, this has now been revised.

Mediators are holding talks between management and the National Bus and Rail Union (NBRU) in a bid to secure a deal to prevent a return to picket lines which stopped services nationwide on Sunday and Monday.

Results of ballots for industrial action by workers with Siptu and the Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association, which are also in the discussions, will be known tomorrow.

Bus Éirieann spokesman Andrew McAlindon this morning said talks between unions and management have been “posititve” so far but added it was “still very early days” and there was “lots more to be done today”.

Asked about union proposals that pay cuts be imposed on senior management at the company, Mr McAlindon said he would not “negotiate in public”.

Meanwhile trade unions piled extra pressure on transport chiefs by warning drivers at Dublin Bus and Irish Rail will vote on strikes in solidarity with Bus Éireann workers.

Siptu said its members at the other two companies in the CIE group will be balloted as a sign of solidarity with counterparts in the state-controlled bus firm.

Bus Éireann employees and management have been locked in dispute for months over the company’s plan to slash €5 million off the pay bill in a bid to stem massive losses.

The company has warned it needs to make five million euro payroll savings or it will go out of business and claims the strike has cost it an estimated €400,000 to date.

Bus Eireann is seeking a 20 per cent cut to a range of allowance and expense payments, a reduction of overtime rates, longer working hours and a cut in shift payments.

It maintains the measures, recommended by the Labour Court, are vital for the survival of the company and security of 2,500 jobs.

The Government has also warned the bus firm lost €27 million over the last five years and would not be financially viable if it did not impose cuts.

Additional reporting PA