A ballot for industrial action this week by 1,200 drivers at Bus Atha Cliath in support of a claim for a 20 per cent pay rise could endanger the company's viability plan, which is seen as pivotal for its economic survival.
The drivers are members of the National Bus and Rail Workers' Union. Their union colleagues in Bus Eireann are also seeking an increase of around 20 per cent for drivers, to give them a guaranteed payment of £330 per week.
Bus Atha Cliath was the first of the CIE companies to agree its viability plan, in January, and was set to achieve savings of £3.4 million annually as a result after more than two years of negotiations. The plan provided for a 2.75 per cent increase over the terms agreed under Partnership 2000, along with a lead-in payment of £1,350.
As part of an integral restructuring package the plan provided for the contracting out of the school bus service and increased flexibility among drivers as well as improved attendance bonuses and the implementation of penalties for non-attendance. The package also reflected the tax-relief concessions for lump-sum payments on foot of compliance by workers with productivity norms agreed under the viability plan. These tax concessions were dependent on the acceptance of an across-the-board restructuring package, including wage cuts in some cases.
A spokesman for Bus Atha Cliath said yesterday that the company could not afford to meet the 20 per cent pay demand, which would wipe out projected savings at a stroke. The company was also concerned that the claim was being pursued as an "immediate" demand, even though Partnership 2000 was not due to expire before the end of the year. But the NBRU is insisting that the claim is "pragmatic", linked to the "current high wage economy so prevalent in the country at the moment".
The union told Bus Atha Cliath the claim was essential "to halt the deterioration in our members' living standards and to reflect their commitment to what is the most stressful professional occupation any individual may undertake". A basic current pay norm of £270 per week did not reflect the stressfulness of a bus driver's job in the grid-locked capital. The "close of P2000" was the most opportune time to lodge the claim, the union argued.
"We should warn you that any prevarication on your part will be met with the full weight of our industrial power," the NBRU said.
The NBRU represents 1,200 of the Bus Atha Cliath drivers, while the remaining 900 are members of SIPTU.