The two-day unofficial strike which caused major disruption to bus services in and out of Galway city today has ended.
Bus Éireann and the 100 striking drivers this evening agreed a back to work formula after an intervention by the Labour Relations Commission (LRC).
The Labour Relations Commission says there are to be talks in Galway on Friday to deal with the underlying issues which caused the dispute.
Earlier today up to 5,000 passengers were hit by a dispute between drivers and the company. There were no Expressway services on routes linking Galway with Dublin, Limerick, Shannon Airport, Sligo and Ballina.
The drivers were said to be unhappy with management procedures following the ending of the Galway-London coach service, in particular the displacement of the four employees affected, and subsequent new rostering.
NRBU Assistant General Secretary, Mr Michael Faherty, said the company chose to ignore internal industrial relations procedures and it might be embarrassing for them to go through the process now.
Mr Faherty said the ending of the Galway-London service was not the issue. "The issues are to do with the displacement of the four affected workers. These were the subject of an independently-chaired Bus Éireann Forum which was to meet again on the 15th of this month.
The company was obliged to wait before the Forum was finished its work before making any decision, but they ignored this," he said.
In a statement today, Bus Éireann denied it has ignored industrial relations procedures. "The unofficial stoppage of work has occurred because the NBRU states it is in dispute with Bus Éireann over the filling of driver vacancies which have been advertised and filled by the compnay in accordance with the agreed procedures. There is no dispute between the company and SIPTU on this issue, as the appropriate procedures have been followed."
Company spokesman Mr Cyril McIntyre said the action was unofficial and in breach of regulations.
"The first step is for them to go back to work. There's a loss of revenue which we can ill afford and also the disruption to all our customers."
He said the company had agreed not to fill the vacancies while the drivers' case was being heard before the dispute panel. He added there was no requirement for the company to wait for its verdict, which is due on Monday next week.