Minister for Transport Shane Ross has been urged to introduce regulations that would grant Bus Éireann non-stop express licences similar to those available to private operators.
He has also been encouraged to bring in laws to force private bus operators to accept the Department of Social Protection travel pass.
The Cork Council of Trade Unions (CCTU) has written to Mr Ross on behalf of 500 Bus Éireann employees in Cork who are members of trade unions affiliated to the group to express concern over the precarious financial position affecting the company’s services.
CCTU secretary Joe Kelly said Mr Ross was incorrect to suggest the disagreement was simply an industrial dispute but was in fact a political matter as a result of the policies pursued by successive governments which are being implemented by the National Transport Authority (NTA).
“The NTA has issued licences to private bus operators willy-nilly on lucrative non-stop routes such as Dublin Airport to and from various locations around the country but has expected Bus Éireann’s commercial sector Expressway to serve towns and villages throughout the State,” said Mr Kelly.
Mr Kelly said that, unlike Bus Éireann, these private operators do not provide facilities at terminals. He also said the practice of passengers being picked up and dropped off at St Patrick’s Quay in Cork was dangerous as it was a main traffic thoroughfare.
“The NTA ignores this when issuing licences in the same way that it ignores that drivers’ hours should not exceed an average of 48 per week and that they are paid according to the registered agreement for bus drivers,” said Mr Kelly.
Complaints
According to the CCTU, they have received complaints saying drivers for private bus operators were being forced to work up to 65 hours per week and paid just €450 a week. The CCTU said one operator allegedly threatened to dismiss any driver thinking of joining a trade union to improve pay and conditions.
The CCTU said that licences should only be given to private operators who signed up to a code of decent work. This code would include a commitment to abide by legal driving hours and pay as per any agreement registered in the Labour Court. The CCTU said workers in such firms should also be allowed join trade unions.
Private bus operators do not accept the Department of Social Protection free travel pass on their services while the rate of payment to Bus Éireann for accepting such customers has been reduced since 2011 and now stands at between €4 and €5 per journey while the average fare is more than €11.
Mr Kelly pointed out that the Public Service Obligation subvention to Bus Éireann had been reduced annually from €42 million in 2008 to €33 million in 2015 and said this should be reversed if the company is to have any chance of competing with private operators.
He said Bus Éireann should be granted non-stop express licences similar to private operators and where existing Expressway services were found to be providing socially desirable services, such as serving rural communities that have no other service, these services should be PSO funded.
A spokesman for the NTA said that issues regarding the provision and location of bus stops including the issue of safety were a matter for the local authorities under the Road Safety Act.
Any suspected breaches of the Road Transport Working Time Directive in terms of the numbers of hours that drivers were being asked to work should be reported to the Road Safety Authority while other labour law breaches can be reported to the Workplace Relations Commission.
The spokesman said Bus Éireann had not applied for non-stop express licences on any route though it does operate such a service in a joint venture with GoBé on the Dublin-Cork route.
