There is a certain irony in the manner in which the "moles" of the permanent way - the track workers who are "rarely seen and never heard" - upstaged their high-profile colleagues in Dublin Bus this week. There is even more in the fact that the "moles' " union, SIPTU, has managed to emerge from the confrontation without suffering serious damage to its image.
As a champion of the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness, it was deeply embarrassing to the State's largest union to have permanent way operatives break every procedural rule in the book and bring the railway system to a halt at the very time SIPTU was trying to hold the line in Dublin Bus.
While the "no strings attached" claim for a 20 per cent pay rise by the National Bus and Rail Union may have been outside the terms of the PPF, the union had at least held a strike ballot and served notice on management before engaging in official action.
There were two factors in SIPTU's favour. The first was the Government. It saw the NBRU strike as the main threat to the new national agreement. One official source said earlier this week it was necessary to "clear a few players off the field" before tackling the NBRU.
The other factor was that, unlike the NBRU, SIPTU never made an issue of productivity. Its national industrial secretary, Mr Noel Dowling, was primarily concerned to get his members back to work, have the High Court injunction against his shop stewards lifted and reopen negotiations on their Labour Court award of 20 per cent. That award was firmly grounded in productivity. In fact, it was a feeling that too much productivity had been conceded that brought the permanent way crews on to the picket lines.
The final settlement met SIPTU's criteria. The company lifted the High Court injunction yesterday morning, even before SIPTU shop stewards assembled to consider the peace formula. All staff who had been taken off the payroll were fully reinstated.
The company also agreed to suspend work by contractors while talks take place. The high wages paid by contractors was one of the reasons for action by the low-paid strikers.
Whether SIPTU succeeds in dealing with all the concerns of its members, such as a new cap on overtime and extensive night working, remains to be seen.
However, Iarnrod Eireann has received an assurance that there will be no return to unofficial industrial action by the permanent way workers. A deadline of 5 p.m. on April 7th has been agreed to conclude negotiations on the Labour Court recommendation.
After that, if the SIPTU members decide to reject any amended settlement they will abide by normal procedures before renewing industrial action. They also agreed to allow contractors on to the permanent way if required for critical safety work.
In the circumstances, it would be surprising if there had been no political pressure on the company to "clear the field". However its human resources manager, Mr John Keenan, refused to be drawn on the issue yesterday.
The furthest he would go was to say that "the perception of the Minister's influence on industrial relations is unhelpful. If it was seen that Ms O'Rourke was in any way shaping the process, it would not be helpful."
The reality is that Iarnrod Eireann has had to bite the bullet for the greater good. If the "moles" managed to exploit a wider crisis few will begrudge the opportunity. Their basic wage of £210 a week highlights the real problem in CIE, low pay.
Now the NBRU returns centre stage. Already last night its general secretary, Mr Peter Bunting, warned his own militants they faced expulsion if they engaged in unofficial action today. Mr Bunting's move is part of the price he must pay to win wider trade union support for a peace initiative. Without it his members might face little prospect but more pickets next Monday. Even more importantly, without it the militants might take over.
Whatever hope the NBRU has of securing a decent pay increase, productivity-based or not, will evaporate if the union becomes involved in the sort of action the permanent way crews undertook this week.