Dublin Bus drivers will be balloted on industrial action on Thursday week following management's rejection of demands for a 20 per cent pay increase.
The National Bus and Rail Workers' Union will decide today on the wording of the proposal to be put to the 1,200 drivers, ranging from all-out strike to a series of shorter stoppages.
However, the union's general secretary, Mr Peter Bunting, said the dispute could move to the Labour Relations Commission after the ballot, and short-term disruption of bus services was unlikely.
A spokesman for Dublin Bus said the company had written to the union to say that the pay increase demanded would be in breach of Partnership 2000.