Pay increases without productivity went out with Noah's Ark, the director general of IBEC, Mr John Dunne, said yesterday. He was commenting on the 20 per cent pay claim - "with no strings attached" - served on Dublin Bus by the National Bus and Railworkers' Union.
Mr Dunne argues that allowing competition on the capital's quality bus corridors is the best antidote to union militancy.
But the NBRU claim is comparatively modest when compared with the 30 per cent increase claimed by the Association of Secondary Teachers, Ireland. Both groups are outside the Irish Congress of Trade Unions. If they think that leaves them outside the terms of national agreements, they may learn differently.
In the past, the NBRU and the teachers may have received sympathetic hearings from Ms O'Rourke in her present capacity as Minister for Public Enterprise and in her former role as minister for education. However, the situation has changed drastically in the past four weeks.
When the ICTU intervened with the Government last month to avert a Dublin Bus strike, it was at the start of voting on the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness. Nobody wanted balloting taking place against the background of a major public sector strike. The vote is now in and 550,000 trade unionists have signed up for a 5.5 per cent pay increase this year. Anything extra can be obtained only by way of local productivity-based bargaining.
Another complication for the NBRU was the resignation of Mr Brian Joyce from the chairmanship of the CIE group one week into the abortive talks at the Labour Relations Commission which were intended to resolve the bus dispute. Mr Joyce cited ministerial intervention in CIE's industrial relations as one of the main reasons for his resignation.
Yesterday, Opposition sources commenting on the dispute concentrated their criticisms on the bus workers rather than making the traditional ritual calls for ministerial intervention.
The Progressive Democrats' transport spokeswoman, Senator Helen Keogh, accused the NBRU of acting in "very bad faith" by pulling out of negotiations. There would be no danger of the city's 200,000 commuters being left "high and dry" if Dublin Bus had a competitor, she said. However, her Fine Gael counterpart, Ms Olivia Mitchell, blamed the Minister for giving no strategic direction to CIE.
Talk of competition, be it by politicians or business leaders, is more likely to inflame feeling among Dublin Bus drivers than bring them to heel. But NBRU activists and SIPTU shop stewards know that crucial decisions on public transport policy are about to be taken.
Ironically, the PPF contains major commitments to improve the quality of public transport.
There were some signs last night that union shop stewards were reconsidering their stance in the light of the Government's warning that there could be no pay increases without productivity and a company leaflet to employees outlining potential areas for change.