Bus Éireann had to hire in outside buses to operate nearly 300 services in the east of the country over the last week because drivers did not show up for work, Minster for Employment Affairs Regina Doherty has claimed.
She said in a post on her Facebook account that it was clear “an unofficial labour dispute” was in in progress at the State-owned bus company. She said it had cost the company €150,000 to bring in the replacement buses.
“It is unacceptable for Meath commuters to be left stranded in this fashion. This simply cannot continue.”
Bus Éireann said driver absenteeism rates in the eastern region had almost doubled in recent weeks, and this had caused “a significant impact on services”.
However, the company said it did not consider the current high level of absenteeism in the east to represent an unofficial dispute by drivers’ unions.
“However this is impacting on our services, and on the daily lives of our customers. We are working with unions to address the matter so as to ensure that any disruption to services is minimised.”
The company has put in place new rosters for staff in the region in recent weeks. Bus Éireann said it had introduced a significant timetable of changes in the east in recent weeks, along with new drivers' rosters, and that these formed part of the agreement brokered at the Labour Court earlier this year which ended a three-week strike at the company.
Ill-advised
The union Siptu said the Minister was "wrong" in her assertion that an unofficial labour dispute was under way " involving Bus Éireann services in the east of the country.
Siptu transport division organiser Greg Ennis said: "The Minister is clearly ill-advised to suggest that there is an 'unofficial labour dispute' in progress involving Bus Éireann services in the eastern corridor, as this is clearly not the case.
“Siptu, alongside its sister trade unions in Bus Éireann, has been on the record prior to and since the dispute earlier this year advising that the rosters and bus schedules proposed by Bus Éireann management were unworkable and not fit for purpose.
“In some cases these schedules were placing drivers and the travelling public at risk due to the potential for drivers to work through the night on shifts approaching 13 hours’ duration.
“The issue of giving short breaks to drivers in remote locations, which does not allow drivers the chance to either avail of a toilet break, or indeed take a rest period in line with legal requirements, had also been highlighted. Management clearly knew that drivers would have to abide by driving regulations, and prior to imposing these new schedules they were certainly aware of absenteeism levels”.
Insolvency
The company said it continued “to liaise with unions and staff as part of a major business restructure to reverse insolvency and make the company efficient”.
The company said it had liaised with drivers’ unions ahead of the introduction of the new rosters, and that it rejected any assertions of a lack of foresight or incompetence.
Last month the National Bus and Rail Union (NBRU) general secretary Dermot O’Leary warned of a “standoff” at Bus Éireann regarding the implementation of a Labour Court recommendation that had led to the resolution of the strike at the company earlier this year, “particularly in relation to rosters”.
He said the NBRU advised management this standoff could “result in more industrial action at the company by the end of October”.
