Transport unions warn protest will be first of many
Unions have warned the Government that today's four-hour stoppage by bus and rail workers will the first of many protests unless Transport Minister Seamus Brennan reconsiders his plans to break up CIE.
The stoppage, organised by the National Bus and Railworkers' Union and supported by SIPTU, is due to take place from 11am to 3pm and will affect Dublin Bus, Bus Eireann and Iarnrod Eireann services.
SIPTU spokesman Tony Tobin said the Government's offer of talks on the matter was an opportunistic soundbite: "It's amazing and amusing to hear the Minister for Transport yesterday requesting us to call it off and [saying] he was available for a meeting at any time," he said.
"The same minister never once contacted any of us here at Liberty Hall requesting a meeting."
Mr Tobin said SIPTU regrets any disruption that the stoppage will cause, but he warned that public transport workers will make last week's farmers' protest look like a "tea party" unless their grievances are addressed.
