NBRU won't compromise on bus workers' terms and conditions
Staff at Bus Éireann are due to be presented with cost-saving proposals by management today
The head of the National Bus & Rail Union, which represents workers at Bus Éireann, has said all four stakeholders needed to have a roundtable discussion about the future of the company - and to stop having rows in full view of the media.
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Dermot O'Leary said that the company, unions, the Department of Transport and the National Transport Authority, needed to discuss the issues but the NBRU would not "compromise on workers's terms and conditions to fix a problem that is not of their making".
Staff at the company are due to be presented with a range of cost-saving proposals by management today. The proposals are likely to include a ban on staff overtime and the elimination of the carry-over of annual leave in an effort to save up to €8 million in the face of mounting losses.
As reported intheSunday Business Post yesterday, the cash-strapped semi-state body spends between €11 and €13 million on staff overtime each year. The company is also demanding it should receive more money for carrying pensioners under the free travel scheme.
However, in a statement released at the weekend, O'Leary said it was "appalling" that the company was being forced to attack the terms and conditions of its workers while expenditure by the National Transport Authority went unchecked.
"It is just not acceptable that bus workers and commuters, particularlythose in bus-reliant rural areas, should have to take the hit while those who contributed majorly towards the problems can operate as an authority with, it seems, no responsibility or accountability," he said.
He said that the root cause of the problem with the Expressway routes was government policy and said the intercity service could not be replaced overnight.
During a period when Bus Éireann was haemorrhaging money as a result of government policy, he accused the NTA of "spending more than €40 million on consultants and vanity projects."
"It increased administration and office costs in 2015 to €11 million, provided bonuses to top executives of €500,000 and the tax payer is on the hook for €17.8 million for the NTA gold-plated defined benefit pension scheme," O'Leary said.
He also said the NTA’s apparent desire to attract multi-national players into the Irish bus market stood in stark contrast to its treatment of indigenous coach operators, who were restricted from bidding for a number of bus routes as part of the current tendering process.
