Talks to resolve the dispute between permanent way maintenance crews and Iarnrod Eireann management are expected to resume today after more than eight hours of negotiations failed to achieve a breakthrough last night. If it can be resolved, normal rail services could be resumed this weekend.
DART services are expected to operate today. However, their frequency depends on whether there are unofficial pickets on depots. Yesterday there were two trains operating in the morning and one in the afternoon, despite pickets.
While it seems Dublin Bus drivers will lift their pickets on DART and Bus Eireann depots, the attitude of permanent way/ line maintenance operatives is unclear. It was a refusal by SIPTU to give guarantees to Iarnrod Eireann of no further unofficial action which partly caused the breakdown in negotiations last night.
Yesterday permanent way employees, most of whom are in SIPTU, defied the company's High Court injunction to picket DART depots. Operatives said they would continue their action until colleagues suspended for refusing to co-operate with contract workers were reinstated.
They want the injunction lifted and the suspension of contracted out work. Management is insisting the injunction remains in place and wants to continue using outside contractors for what it considers essential work to complete the company safety plan.
Ironically, without a return to work of the permanent way crews to check the integrity of the track, it will not be possible to reopen closed lines. The few existing services would also have to close down. Hopes were high yesterday that unofficial pickets at Bus Eireann depots would be lifted today following an appeal by the general secretary of the National Bus and Rail Union (NBRU), Mr Peter Bunting. "Our people have expressed their solidarity at this stage with Dublin Bus workers and it would be more helpful if everyone not engaged in an official dispute returned to work."
The response of NBRU members to his appeal will be an important indicator of how firm official union control is within CIE.
Picketers outside Dublin Bus depots seemed determined to continue their own dispute in pursuit of a 20 per cent pay claim, regardless of the situation in the other CIE companies. Failure to resolve the dispute at Iarnrod Eireann could mean that NBRU and SIPTU drivers currently refusing to pass NBRU pickets might feel unable to resume work tomorrow.
A spokesman for the Bus Workers' Action Group said last night that the cross-company sympathetic strike action was the way to win more concessions.
Earlier yesterday, the assistant general secretary of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, Mr Tom Wall, said public transport workers engaged in unofficial action should return to normal working and allow their unions to deal with grievances through official channels.
"The problems that exist can only be dealt with through normal industrial relations machinery. The hardship caused to the public by this unofficial action is unjustified."
The Government is continuing to hold the position that talk of pay increases in Dublin Bus without significant productivity could lead to the unravelling of other productivity deals in the company, as well as undermining the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness. Fine Gael and the Progressive Democrats have renewed calls for a more competitive public transport market.
The Irish Business and Employers Confederation and other business organisations are calling for the Army to provide emergency transport during the stoppage. The Army's capacity is limited to about 100 trucks and minibuses capable of carrying about two dozen people each.
In practice, only half this number might be available after vehicles undergoing maintenance and those needed for essential Defence Force duties are taken into account. So far there has been no formal request for Army assistance from the Department of Public Enterprise.