Minister welcomes cancellation of bus and rail strike
Transport Minister Seamus Brennan has welcomed the SIPTU leadership’s decision to call off today’s planned 24-hour bus and rail strike.
Mr Brennan said the last-minute cancellation would be a welcome relief for the travelling public, but he expressed regret that it came at such a late stage.
He also said talks on his plan to break up CIE and privatise Dublin Bus routes would resume within days and that the onus was on all involved to bring about reforms in public transport as a matter of urgency.
The cancellation of the planned strike followed the intervention of the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, earlier this week.
Mr Ahern sent a letter to the SIPTU leadership in an attempt to avert the stoppage, which was designed to coincide with a meeting of OECD education ministers in Dublin. SIPTU officials spent several hours discussing the letter over the past two days and eventually decided to call off the strike.
The union’s CIE strike committee described the move as "treacherous" and said the leadership was trying to do a deal behind the backs of the workers.
