Dublin Bus strike 'bad day for public transport', says Minister
Minister for Public Transport Alan Kelly has described today’s strike by Dublin Bus workers as a "bad day for public transport in Ireland".
Up to 230,000 passengers face major disruption in the city. There are up to 120,000 GAA fans in Dublin for the Senior Football Quarterfinals, and Dublin Bus services to and from the airport will be also affected.
Strike action at Dublin Bus got underway last night when Nitelink services stopped at midnight and unions say pickets are being placed at all Dublin bus garages from this morning.
The strike follows workers rejecting a deal of nearly €12m in cost savings by the company.
Minister Kelly said that today's strike action is "deeply regrettable and unnecessary" and he has appealed to all sides to come together to resolve the issue.
“Today tourists, match-goers, festival-goers and members of the general public are being discommoded because of strike action,” he said.
“This is deeply regrettable and unnecessary in my view. No worker wants to be on strike and management want the company to retain its services,”
“Again I would ask all sides to come together in an atmosphere of calm and try and solve these problems once and for all. It is a difficult time for everybody involved in transport in Ireland, whether worker, driver or manager,”
“If there is a better way to achieve the level of savings required to secure the future of Dublin Bus, then these need to be tabled and discussed as soon as possible so the public can use the transport service in Dublin.”
Dermot O'Leary, assistant general secretary of the National Bus and Rail Union, criticised the Minister's response to the issue however.
"There's been no contact with this trade union in relation to discussions or talks around the issue", eh said.
"The two Ministers responsible, both Minister Varadkar and the Minister directly responsible for public transport, have made a few utterances over the last few days in relation to people talking. Yet and all they have the facilities at their disposal to affect such discussions and they've been found wanting in that regard.
"It's an unfortunate situation when you have a company that implements changes to people's terms and conditions without agreement, and unfortunately the action today is a reaction to that."
