Dublin Bus has said it will defer the introduction of cuts to services planned from Sunday next, following the resumption of talks at the Labour Court this afternoon.
Some 450,000 customers of Dublin Bus faced disruption from Monday next following a decision by drivers at the company to reject recommendations put forward by the Labour Court in relation to cost-saving measures.
However late this afternoon the bus company issued a statement saying it had been asked to defer the changes, in order to facilitate Labour Court clarification of a number of issues relating to the court’s earlier judgement, for a week, to April 19th.
The Labour Court had previously recommended Dublin Bus go ahead without delay with plans to take 120 buses out of service. It also proposed changes to current paid meal break arrangements for drivers, which, the company believed, could generate savings in the region of €350,000.
However the court also recommended that weekend overtime earning potential for drivers be increased. It also said there should be no dilution of current shift pay arrangements.
Dublin Bus told unions in a letter earlier this week that no further concessions were possible.
Drivers who are members of trade unions Siptu and the National Bus and Rail Union (NBRU) narrowly rejected the plans put forward by the Labour Court in relation to cost-saving measures.
Dublin Bus today took out adverts in national newspapers outlining cuts and curtailments in its services from April 12th, blaming them on "lower passenger numbers in the current economic climate".
It said it would continue to operate a "very comprehensive network of services" and had made every effort to minimise the impact of these changes on customers.
Fine Gael's Seanad spokesman on transport, Paschal Donohoe, said commuters had been "completely overlooked" in the dispute between Dublin Bus and the drivers’ unions and that they would "suffer enormous disruption if an all-out strike goes ahead next week".
Labour Party transport spokesman Tommy Broughan said the "vicious cutbacks" by Dublin Bus would "devastate" Dublin Bus customers.