Yesterday the assistant general secretary of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, Mr Tom Wall, called on public transport workers engaged in unofficial action to return to normal working "and allow their unions to deal with their grievances through official channels . . . the hardship caused by this unofficial action is unjustified."
Hundreds of thousands of commuters, many of them trade unionists, will agree with him. In voting overwhelmingly for the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness, they thought they were buying into industrial peace. The Irish Productivity Centre no doubt thought so, too, when it organised a seminar yesterday on "Partnership Developments under the PPF" in the Gresham Hotel, Dublin. By the time the main speaker, Mr Dermot McCarthy, general secretary to the Government, got up to speak, less than half the expected audience had managed to struggle through the traffic chaos to hear him.
Understandably, Mr McCarthy's speech dwelt on the larger picture of social partnership, such as the legislative and structural supports that will make the PPF workable at national and sectoral level. It would all have meant little to the pickets mounted by defiant Iarnrod Eireann line maintenance operatives at Fairview DART station.
They knew they were in breach of industrial relations procedures and that the company had a High Court injunction under which they could be jailed for contempt, or sued for damages. One of them, a middle-aged family man with 28 years' service, said he would stay out until his colleagues suspended for refusing to work with contractors were reinstated. Asked how he would manage, he said: "We can stay out, we're so low-paid we're on the breadline as it is." With basic pay of £210, he says he needs to work evenings and weekends to boost his earnings over £300. If he had to buy his own home today, he says, "I couldn't afford a caravan on my pay, let alone a house."
The 20 per cent pay increase on offer from the Labour Court will require him to accept a cap on overtime, be liable for shifts from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. - instead of the current 8.30 a.m. to 5 p.m. - and to work nights. He believes the increase of £40 a week in basic pay will be outweighed by a £60 a week loss in overtime, as well as increased reliance on Family Income Supplement.
The fact that many line maintenance workers are temporary also fuels their militancy. In the past they were afraid they might lose their jobs but now they work alongside self-employed contractors whose rates reflect those in the construction industry.
The fact that some contract workers earning up to £80 an hour may have to supply their own equipment is lost on the maintenance men.
Earlier in the day Dublin Bus drivers from Clontarf garage joined the line maintenance operatives at Fairview to ensure DART drivers respected the pickets.
At stations where there were no early unofficial pickets, such as Drogheda, drivers worked normally. Many of them are in the new Irish Locomotive Drivers' Association, made up of defectors from SIPTU and the NBRU who believe the latter unions have ignored the interests of train drivers.
However, where ILDA drivers were confronted by unofficial NBRU pickets, such as at Inchicore, they turned away, leaving the Arrow route without trains.
Turf wars between unions are an inevitable part of CIE disputes. On this occasion they appear to have confused and exacerbated the situation more than usual. SIPTU regional secretary Mr Noel Dowling, who had the unenviable task of trying to persuade the line maintenance men to return yesterday, said that the present chaos had been "the culmination of 30 years of mistreatment" of public transport and its workforce.
"I am doing my damnedest to get the dispute fixed." He said the failure of the Government to include more money for developing industrial relations and human resources within the public transport section of the National Development Plan left the Minister for Public Enterprise, Ms O'Rourke, with "a lot to answer for".
"All of a sudden there are billions to spend on public transport but nothing for the people who have sustained the service on very low pay over the years."
Ironically, the ICTU fought hard for extra resources to be pumped into public transport during talks on the PPF. It fears that with Fine Gael and the Progressive Democrats calling for competition in the area, the current dispute could see the main benefits going to the private sector. Unfortunately, the bigger picture is harder to see from the picket line than from ICTU headquarters.