SETTLEMENT OF an unofficial industrial dispute at Iarnród Éireann will be greeted with a sigh of relief by passengers who faced the prospect of further disruption over the bank holiday weekend.
But for those not directly affected, the events in Cork will be viewed as a re-run of the bad old days when driver intransigence, trade union weakness and poor management conspired to deny customers vital services they had every right to expect.
This kind of wildcat strike has no place in modern Ireland. Public interest demands that consumers should be treated in a just and considerate fashion. For a driver to leave a train full of early morning passengers and walk off the job in support of a colleague and restrictive practices is unconscionable. It is no wonder commuters choose to use private transport when they are treated in such a fashion. As a consequence, development of public transport continues to lag behind our European neighbours while workers in the industry feel undervalued. This latest unofficial dispute, which affected an estimated 100,000 journey times and cost the company more than €2 million, should encourage unions and management to resolve their outstanding differences as a matter of urgency.
Many long-established companies are bedevilled by restrictive practices. Iarnród Éireann is no different. During decades of decline, the company suffered from underfunding and political interference. Now, as investment flows in, management, unions and the workforce are struggling to cope with new demands and expectations. It is a difficult time.
Train drivers have acquired a reputation for extreme militancy and single-minded determination. That may explain why management in Cork failed to counteract a growth in restrictive practices. So, while drivers were to blame for a withdrawal of services, local management should bear responsibility for allowing a situation to develop where industrial agreements were interpreted differently there. That, however, is cold comfort to those passengers whose travelling plans were disrupted.
One consoling development was the fact that disruption was largely confined to the Cork and Kerry lines. Train drivers in the rest of the country refused to react in a one-out, all-out fashion. A similar situation occurred last year in a Dublin Bus dispute. There, too, drivers from other depots declined to endorse strike action in support of restrictive practices. Such a response is welcome. But it points to a reluctance by union officials to clearly advise members on what is, and what is not, acceptable practice and to challenge those militants who would subvert their functions. Leadership is needed on all sides.