The current disruption being caused to Iarnrod Eireann customers arises from unjustifiable unofficial action by a small number of locomotive drivers associated with the so-called Irish Locomotive Drivers' Association (ILDA).
If it is justifiable, as the ILDA leader Brendan Ogle claims, a whole range of people and organisations are out of step or wrong.
His claims are made on two grounds: firstly, that the provisions of the agreement on new pay and work arrangements for locomotive drivers are unsafe and, secondly, that ILDA-associated drivers were not given the opportunity to contribute to or decide on the new agreement. Those wrong or out of step include all of those involved in the three-year negotiation process which brought about the "New Deal for Locomotive Drivers".
They include senior operating managers, with a broad range of experience and direct safety responsibilities, two full-time trade union officials, themselves former drivers, and some 20 serving drivers with experience both as drivers and in other operating roles. The Labour Relations Commission facilitated the three-year talks process. The Labour Court investigated and made recommendations on aspects of the agreement.
Halcrow Rail, one of the foremost rail safety consultancies in the world, conducted an intensive safety validation process and found them to present a positive effect on safety.
The core elements in the "new deal" include: a reduction in regular working hours; seven-day working replaced by guaranteed five-day working; and competition for extra hours at work because of low pay replaced by a guaranteed earnings package of up to £29,500 per annum, from a basic rate of pay of £14,500, plus add-ons contingent on extra hours and duties.
The High Court considered the question of ILDA's right to representation and recognition last November. Following his judgment delivered last April, Judge Jarlath O'Neill issued a declaration that ILDA "cannot lawfully conduct negotiations for the fixing of rates of pay, hours of duty and other conditions of service of locomotive drivers in the employment" of Iarnrod Eireann. The corollary is that it would be unlawful for Iarnrod Eireann to negotiate with ILDA.
Apart from the direct legal implications of the High Court declaration, other very important implications arise.
Most immediate, perhaps, is that should ILDA be invited to talks on the "new deal", the two recognised and authorised trades unions with whom the agreement was reached, NBRU and SIPTU, would walk out and the "new deal" would collapse.
Secondly, the further fragmentation of the union structures within Iarnrod Eireann would be heralded. Any number of new subgroups would quickly emerge, pushing their own particular agendas. Immediately the so-called Busworkers Action Group within Bus Atha Cliath is likely to force its agenda. This group has already come out in support of ILDA.
In addition a lead would be given to other subgroups in other industries.
This is against the background of well-established public policy, wherein our legislators in consultation with the Social Partners have sought to control the multiplicity of trade unions, most recently in the Industrial Relations Act of 1990. Public policy has formed in this way because the multiplicity of competing agendas gives rise to, at its worst, industrial anarchy.
Another fundamental element in this difficulty is the nature of the action being taken by some ILDA-associated drivers and its leadership.
The ILDA presence at depots and stations around the State is in place for two reasons: firstly to discourage ILDA-associated drivers, other drivers and staff from going to work and, secondly, to provoke Iarnrod Eireann into legal initiatives.
However, we are acting in the interests of our customers and employees by resisting this provocation in so far as it would provide the potential for "martyrdom". But the question of other well-focused legal redress remains. Indeed, some of our customers are engaged in similar consideration.
Another very important consideration is the effect on relationships within Iarnrod Eireann. Inevitably the action being taken by ILDA gives rise to the potential for bitterness, not least between workers, and again because of reported instances of name-calling and abusive phone calls. Indeed, one ILDA activist is on record as condoning the use of the term "scab" in reference to colleagues who are keeping services going in line with our agreement with NBRU and SIPTU.
It is clear from this endorsement, apart from consideration of the initial evolution of the Ogle group, that there seems little respect for drivers who are at work under an agreement accepted by a democratic ballot overseen by the LRC. This ballot resulted in a majority of 30 in favour among those who voted, and with the minority who voted against accepting the democratic decision and working the agreement.
Brendan Ogle, having encouraged ILDA-associated drivers not to participate in the ballot, though invited to do so, now claims that had they done so the agreement would not have come about. His calls surely ring hollow.
This hollowness is more profound when it is realised that a number of ILDA-associated drivers have ignored the ILDA leadership and are working the new agreement. A number have returned to work over the past fortnight and a greater return is expected this week.
Despite the anticipated increase in a drift back to work, a full return at an early stage and on a lasting basis is hard to see as there is no hint of compromise or accommodation in the language used by Mr Ogle. Each time he speaks he rejects or dismisses the High Court judgment, the role of the LRC except as he would define it himself, the prospect of dialogue with existing driver trade unions NBRU and SIPTU, any association with staff outside of the locomotive driver grade, democratic decision-making and any acknowledgement that he might not have a monopoly on right.
Against this complete background it seems to me that the only prospect for resolution lies in the wider trade union movement. This would mean a process of finding a resolution which would take account of the existing structures and realities, to be facilitated by a third party within the trade union movement.
If there is a legitimate ILDA agenda, not seen to date, it needs to be discovered, defined, and responded to within structures that will not result in fragmentation and destabilisation of our already brittle industrial relations system and create ongoing threats to services and employment.
John Keenan is manager, human resources, at Iarnrod Eireann
