Dublin Bus Strike

Irish Times

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Up to 150,000 Dublin Bus passengers are likely to be left without a service today as an unofficial strike spreads to other depots

The strike is not sanctioned by Siptu or the National Bus and Rail Union (NBRU), but has been organised by a group called the Bus Workers’ Action Group.

The protest started after Dublin Bus suspended a driver for refusing to work the new schedule on the 128 Baldoyle-to-Rathmines service.

Both unions agreed at the Labour Court earlier this month to accept the cost-saving proposals. However, drivers at Clontarf yesterday said the affected workers had not been given adequate notice of their new rosters.

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Have to wonder what the point of a Union is if the members just trun around & initiate an unofficial strike. Surely the while point of management & union reps negotiating is to prevent strikes. If the workers are unhappy with the representation by their union leaders surely they shuld sack them or leave the union?

:confused:

It took me an eternity to get into work this morning because of that stinking strike, if I went on an unofficial strike I'd be sacked, maybe CIE should do the same thing, it would certainly go some way towards solving their money trouble

All but routes from harristown now working back to schedule

Bar 11.30 at night, Dublin Bus don't have a schedule. It's a "we'll arrive eventually" timetable.

For the service I use I find that they come every ten minutes like they say. I generally find them a good service. In relation to this strike I think the workers are pretty silly to be going against a Labour Court and Union and Company agreement. But I do not know the ins and outs of it and I am always wary of commenting on industrial disputes as the media is natural anti worker on many of these disputes and they very rarely get across the crucial details of the dispute and always look at it from a customer side of it rather from the producer side of it.

The customer is king in the land of the media when commenting on other industries but very rarely when commenting on their own.

I get the impression the bus drivers might just want to be seen to be standing up to Management. A bit of reminder that they can pull wild cat strikes at short notice.

I am a little suspicious of unofficial disputes as I am sure sometimes the unions don't want to be associated with so just leave them happen anyway.

From what little I understand both sides are in the wrong. The drivers were dragging their feet about implementing changes to the 128 route where the timetable has a lot of sitting around doing nothing time and management tried to force through the change by suspending the first driver in the morning for not driving the new schedule.

It seems a very petty squabble to me. Both sides are happy to leave the passengers stranded rather than be seen to back down.