Industrial action is inevitable in the Dublin Bus pay dispute, the National Rail and Bus workers Union (NRBU) has saud.
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NBRU members at Dublin Bus met yesterday to discuss possible strike action, several weeks after rejecting a recommendation by the Labour Court that staff should… The meeting was held after union members backed industrial action by 96pc.
He said that would mean commuters could face both 24 and 48-hour stoppages, adding that “the nuclear option is there of all-out strike that nobody wants”.
Mr O’Leary said that drivers would like parity with tram drivers and they are willing to discuss productivity once the issue of a flat pay increase has been sorted.
They are seeking rises in line with the recent Luas pay award of 18.3%, which they calculate at 3.8% a year, and further increases to address the pay gap between Dublin Bus and Luas drivers.
Drivers voted overwhelmingly in favour of strike action last Friday with only 4% not backing the measures.
Dublin Bus’ largest union, Siptu, is still balloting its members in seven grades on industrial action, including strike action. It has urged them to reject the Labour Court proposal.
The NBRU is the second largest union at the bus company with 1,432 members, who are mainly drivers.
Bus drivers’ wages are roughly €39,000 a year including shift and premium payments, but tram drivers stand to make up to €53,000 after the pay increase they won two months ago.
The unions argue that staff are angry and want an improvement in their pay packets after eight years of austerity, which included pay cuts and voluntary redundancies.
Divisional organiser Owen Reidy has said meeting with other unions before then is premature: “To be fair to the NBRU, they have had their ballot and they have said it is quite likely that industrial action will take place”.
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O’Leary pointed out that his members had not received a pay increase in nearly eight years. The ballot process is still ongoing and we will await the results of the ballots by the remaining trade unions this week before considering the outcome in full.
