The Irish Locomotive Drivers' Association may resume industrial action at Iarnrod Eireann because of the company's failure to conclude disciplinary hearings against eight of its members. The ILDA committee is to meet at the headquarters of its union, the ATGWU, on Monday.
The news will be a further blow to public confidence coming a few hours after an electrical fault caused delays on DART services for 40,000 commuters and less than 24 hours after the company, SIPTU and the NBRU agreed an industrial peace initiative to allow the new Maynooth service begin on Monday.
The new threat relates to May's rail strike by ILDA drivers. The strike was suspended while the issues were investigated by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions and the Labour Court. The ATGWU was seeking recognition for its ILDA branch.
Subsequently the ICTU found against the ATGWU on the is sue of representation rights. The court investigated Iarnrod Eireann disciplinary procedures and found they were largely satisfactory. However, it proposed giving ILDA members fuller access to the appeals procedures.
The Labour Court recommendation was issued on July 25th and the ATGWU secretary for the ILDA branch, Mr Brendan Ogle, said none of his members had been summoned to attend a hearing since. They remain suspended on full pay. One driver will have been suspended for 17 weeks by Monday.
A spokesman for the company said the delay was to allow both sides to study the court's findings and because the company had been occupied with resolving the Maynooth line dispute.