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AN OVERWHELMING MAJORITY of people do not support the actions of striking Luas workers, according to a new poll.
The Dublin tram service was disrupted again last weekend as Luas drivers engaged in their latest industrial action with more strikes planned later this month.
Now a new poll has found that 80% of people do not support the industrial action, which centres on workers’ pay demands.
The Claire Byrne Live/Amárach Research poll found that just 12% of people support the strikes, while 8% said they don’t know.
The clear opposition of the general public comes after the long-running dispute has seen drivers go on strike for seven days this year, including Easter weekend.
Both Siptu and Transdev, which operates the Luas, have been negotiating a deal since August 2014, without any sign of a breakthrough.
The dispute took a turn last Friday when the head of the Workplace Relations Commission Kieran Mulvey made controversial remarks about the industrial action on Morning Ireland.
Mulvey said that Siptu did not contact him to explain why Luas drivers rejected a deal from the tram’s operator, Transdev.
He said most union representatives would get a “standing ovation” if they returned to their members with the proposals put forward by the tram operator.
The comments led to calls for Mulvey’s resignation by the Siptu president Jack O’Connor with the heightened rhetoric doing little to increase the prospect of a deal being reached to end the industrial action.
Drivers have revised down their pay claim, but say that they are being asked to “pull the ladder up” after themselves and take a pay rise at the expense of new drivers.
Last month, the WRC made recommendations that would see experienced drivers’ salaries move to €50,000 from €42,247 by 2019. This was short of the 27% raise they had requested.
More critical to many workers was the fact that a starting salary for a new Luas driver would have dropped to €29,080 from €32,311 under the WRC proposals.
The proposals were rejected by workers who now plan further strike action on 23 and 24 April.
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I want more money for my job just because I think I deserve it,f##k everyone else I’ll go on strike. My boss tells me nobody pulls a lever like you do..
The mistake is to take measures that inconvenience the public. They should take measures that inconvenience the management and company.
The management PR has been excellent. They have used social media to create and exploit public disatisfaction in an exemplary way. The disinformation and misrepresentation of the workers claims has been textbook stuff. Thatcher would have approved of it. Turning working people against other working people is the oldest tactic in the book. If there had been more widespread support for the negotiations then this would have been sorted out months ago. I only hope that people who arent supporting the drivers dont expect support when their turn comes to ask for pay restoration, pay rises and improved working conditons.
You’d have thought that the unions would have been able to predict and counter this. But they didn’t and now the drivers task is all the more difficult.
I supported them right up to the point when they turned down 18% incremental rise. Who turns down 18%?
The management haven’t needed PR, they just needed to laugh when the barely literate lever pushers demanded a 54% increase in pay because reasons, then let the rest of us know what had been demanded. Doubt they needed to employ Edelman for this one somehow.
But that wasn’t exaclty the deal was it. There were conditons attached: changes in the number of working days, the rise to take place over three years, not all drivers would get it and so on.
In answer to your question re who would turn down this supposed ’18′ per cent rise, my boss for a start. He got more than this (which severly pissed us all off i can tell you!
Yes there were conditions attached, but nothing that deserved a 54% pay increase, plus free GP care (wtf was that one about???). And your boss being granted a +18% raise is not equivalent to someone demanding such an increase and holding the company to ransom till it’s granted. You may be unhappy with your boss’ pay rise, but your company must be happy with his work and are keen to keep him; conversely I’d say Transdev would only love to be shot of this shower of greedy buggers.
@Andrew
Is your boss only pulling a couple of levers and directing a tram along a straight rail?
At a guess I’d say he is directing far more than that and can be sacked at the drop of a hat, which apparently the Luas drivers cannot, mores the pity.
They knew the salary when the applied for the job. You can’t then walk in and say you want a 54% increase.
Everybody would understand if they were looking a few percent but what they wanted from the start was ludicrous .
To then turn down 18% is insane. Most people would be over the moon with that.
If you are unhappy with your salary, quite and go and find another job that pays the salary you want .
I never heard of such a starting salary for such low skills
I do think the whole luas strike has been very badly run and the staff asked for way too much to be paid far too quickly but some comments on here are very nasty and totally anti ordinary worker. Alot of people think good paying jobs should only be for people who’s mammys and daddys sent them to college so they are now the golden ones so everyone else should only be entitled to minimum wage or job bridge. That is a disgusting attitude to have and it’s attitudes like that that sadly mean unions have to exist in the first place.
I’m an ordinary worker, ultimately it is me they want to gouge to fund their ridiculous pay increases, they can ask me bollix!
I don’t support the drivers but whether you have a degree or not is irrelevant. Supply and demand is what sets salary. I know many a degree holder that I wouldn’t trust pulling levels either. Bottom line for me is there are plenty of workers out there that can and would do this job on current salary levels.
Sorry but I’m afraid you are totally wrong. …anyone who studied hard, and invested the 4 or 5 years of hard study required to get a masters, or diploma or whatever, absolutely 100% to earn a lot more than someone who’s mammy or daddy didn’t push then to study harder, or who didn’t have the willpower to do it themselves. ….. Unions do not exist to protect the rights of lazy people who didn’t bother to work hard at school/college. …..if your mammy or daddy wasn’t going you would go to higher level education, then the problem lies with your family and not anyone else. …….. what a disgusting, parasitic attitude. ….
@Gavin
I have read your post a few times and can’t figure out what your main point is?
Are you for or against the Luas Drivers and are you for or against College Graduates?
Who in their right mind would turn down 18 per cent. The general pubic disowned them when they snubbed the Easter celebrations .They must be on some wages working five days and the union giving them 40 euro per day not to work over the weekends beer money sure where would you get it
50k to drive a Luas? This country is mad.
We also make celebs of convicted drug smugglers. We have lost our shite completely
I won’t support any union that blindly holds a company to ransom when the employees are legally employed and do not have any outside contract work being pressured on them.
An overwhelming number don’t give a hoot about it and Hugh’s agenda. Full stop.
So that is the only criteria you need when considering if you support a union or not? Slave labour doesn’t ring your bell then?
What slave labour? What the hell are you on about?
If earning 42K for less than the standard average weekly working hours, for pushing a button with no education behind me, is slave labour…sign me up as a slave please.
Dowthebow you should get comment of the week for that you made me laugh with that one
Simple solution. Sack them.
Not so simple. By law, you cannot sack somebody for participating in a lawful strike. Neither can you make them redundant, when you clearly replace them with new hires.
The only option open is to hand them a cheque for 2 years pay – the maximum you are likely to get for unfair dismissal from a court.
That would be a payment of 100k avg per person times , what? 200 drivers? That’s 20m the company doesn’t have and will be passed on to passengers in fare increases
A drop to 29k ? As a starting? For relatvely unskilled work
Relatively?
Only a matter of time before Jack O’Connor demands 80% of us be deported for bias in his brave defence of the working class, against the wishes of the overwhelming majority of the working class.
Lots of pakistani gentlemen drifting in from the UK just mad for some hard work right now….or maybe some soft asylum…
You know Dublin survived for close to 100 years without a tram service and proved during the centenary celebrations/commemorations that it can at least function without one with an extra 500,000 odd in the city. I’m not suggesting it wouldn’t be inconvenient but would it really be impossible to take the option out of the hands of the union and shut the thing down until a new set of drivers can be recruited and trained ? About 9 weeks should do it.
The barrage of comments on the journal with every article relating to the strike and the approval of Wally suggests that Luas drivers are not supported by the broad majority
If transdev give them a cent the public should go on strike. Stop paying for tickets en masse! These drivers are really trying to extort the average punter as their insane demands will only lead to increased fares.
It will be the cause of nurses, guards, baggage handler etc going on strike! It screams of early 2000s sense of entitlement. Don’t give in to them!
What a surprise. In other countries robots do their job. Be thankful they still have one.
What country has automated trams that operate on roads with traffic and pedestrians?
No true.
Canada
Rose and Peter just got PWNED !
Dubai metro is driverless
Paris has some too.
Yeah the the cops drive around in Lamborginis !!
They’re trying to get more money for the same job. That’s not trying to better themselves that’s greed.
How does a ‘more experienced’ driver differ from a new recruit?
Same track, same go/stop button, same open/close door button.
You shouldn’t get payrises just for being there. That’s 1950s public sector Union thinking.
This needs to be nipped in the bud big time, sack the lot of them and make them reapply, I can only imagine the floodgates opening where petrol station cashiers start looking for 70k and street cleaners on 100k
Bobby Phelan & Mike Brady talking out of their arses! These Luas “drivers” are a complete joke. Unfortunately they can’t be sacked but the public should make their lives as difficult as possible to show our complete resentment towards their greed. Thousands would give their right hand for this job & still be able to do it!
This is a badly advised strategy. Leaving aside the merits or otherwise of the case for a moment, the luas has not yet reached essential status. They strike and people are miffed and inconvenienced to a degree but apart from that things keep moving as people avail of other options. Luas staff total around 270 in total and it is feasible that it could shut down and rehire both new recruits and existing staff on more rigid contracts for less money in a modest time frame.
Dublin Bus workers however have much greater impact if they down tools. Massive staff numbers that require lengthy expensive training cannot be quickly or easily replaced and the city quickly grinds to a halt from day one.
If they wanted public support, or at least public indifference, they should have operated the services and not charged passengers
The irish will moan about anybody that try to better themselves but the irish will never moan about the corruption in our country.I for one support those luas people.the journal would be better off finding out who the 300 tax avaders are and do some real journalism for a change
They’re just plain greedy
You do know there was no tax evaders on the list they were tax avoiders and were completely legal in their actions.
Legally sound does not equate to ethically sound or morally sound. Plenty of unconvicted greedy and unscrupulous bankers walking the streets.
The luas drivers aren’t doing anything illegal either James…
They are not ‘trying to better themselves’, they are not going to night classes to learn how to drive a tram 27% better
Apples and oranges
No principles are principles!
Their pay claim is ridiculous but i am glad they rejected the deal on the table as it would have bought in another 2 tier pay scale similar to gardai nurses and teachers.
Ah yeah they did it for the new folks coming in on a lower pay rate… Yeah right.
All workers have the right to strike if they are unhappy with conditions. Looking for a 53% increase when other workers are just trying to get back to where they were before the austerity measures seemed a bit out of touch. To turn down 18% increase ,for a job which is not overly complicated , after the public bore the brunt of disruptions over Easter Weekend, killed all public support. Now the Luas strikers just look greedy. And the people have no time for greed when there are so many just trying to get by.
No sh*t Sherlock. There’s a headline from the Department of the Bleeding Obvious. Lol.
Considering the skill level and training required for the job, I’d put the maximum salary at around the €26,000 mark.
Jobs that require decades of experience, training and skill barely warrant €50,000 in this country.
I’d say put the company into receivership, sack the lot of them. Start up again with a new set of workers on a MUCH tighter contract and no Unions allowed.
Look I get that they want more money, don’t we all! Just the way they’ve gone about trying to get it, disrupting the lives of the commuters that rely on the Luas to get them to and from work, and not forgetting their decision to strike over there Easter weekend! With the amount they are now costing Transdev in strike days I don’t know how they can expect to get what they want now.
Y’know I remember watching John Giles & eamon dumpy talking about footballers salaries donkeys years ago and Giles said if someone is crazy enough to pay David beckham 200k a week fair play to him for getting it. But this scenario is a lot different . The passengers will end up paying for it. Plus bexkham never went on strike causing inconvenience to ordinary working people . So for those that say non Supporters are moaners stfu. This is not a case of them trying to get a fair wage
Pure greed and stupidity. Hard to remember such a misguided union strategy and even harder to see how misled LUAS drivers will gain anything out of this.
Did I read that right? Luas drivers are getting 42k per year and they’re not happy with that! Excuse me while I go vomit! Sure it’s no bother to them striking if that’s what they’re getting paid per year, they won’t notice a few days gone here and there! How can they justify the big jump in salary that they are looking for? Most people are lucky to see 2% or maybe 3% per year if anything, why are the luas drivers special?
Wannabe middle class listeners to the Claire Byrne show dont like Luas drivers’ strike. Quelle suprise, lol
If you’re being paid less than a Luas driver, its your employers fault… not the Luas drivers’ fault. Does it mater if you think their work is or isn’t worth 40k a year? Surely that money is better in the hands of ordinary people like ourselves than a massive multinational? People who’ll spend it in the Irish economy rather than pump it into shareholder profits abroad.
No, because we’ll have to pay for their increase through increased fares. Mother of god, where do commies think money actually comes from?!
Where do you think miney actually comes from Liam? Genuine question, I’m interested in your views on money
In this case money comes from consumers via increased fares. I get the feeling you’ve read a few things about fractional reserve banking or debt backed money and that’s the angle you’re playing here; if that’s the case then you likely only know part of the story, and nonetheless it changes nothing about this case.
Oh if I were u Liam I’d be more interested in where money goes, not where it comes from. It’s shareholders taking more margin that drives prices up too. Im a capitalist business owner by the way not a communist. The reason I’m complaining is because the system this country runs under is not capitalism. Its something much more sinister than that. By spouting fed lines from the media rather than thinking with your own mind you serve to perpetuate that system. Think of religion and doctrine, its a bit like that.
Having read most of the commentary here. Yisser all mad. This is more then just pay – up the equality.
Wanting a much bigger increase than everybody else is not equality.
Is time to the public protesting now. Don’t pay the tickets.
Absolute nonsense what there looking for. Not to mention what there already on, double pay Sunday and treble for bank holidays and they get bonuses. All for pushin a lever, they need to stop and think about all the other jobs they would be qualified to go for with the same starting pay
What a stupid question to ask. All you have to do is read the comments over the last few months to learn the answer to this question, especially after the 1916 easter rising weekend.
In other news, water…Wet.
So easy looking through comments how the elite can manipulate and turn people against each other.
Only for the right reasons md
Its interesting that Claire Byrne didnt do a poll into the salaries paid to RTE staff and whether the public thought they where worth €500k salaries for reading an autocue !!
That’s nonsense Alan. Transdev would 100% legally be within their rights to sack all striking workers. Once they sack all of them. And there’s nothing the Unions or their solicitors could do.
I’d suggest fact checking before making ridiculous false statements.
Luas Drivers originally sought parity with DART drivers who after 10 years service (doing a similar job) earn €20k a year more (€64k) than a Luas Driver (€42K).
Hence the 53% claim.
DART drivers WILL be seeking be seeking a 20% increase along with Bus and Irish Rail workers.
Transdev where offering 18% for some. But for a senior driver it worked out at 10% (about €40 a month after taxes) but in order to accept this measly offer you will have to sell out your new recruits and have your duties extended by 40 minutes per day 9.5 hr shift
The Luas only employees 170 drivers so the bigger issue here is what Dublin Bus, Irish Rail and DART drivers will be seeking which is why they are receiving NO support.
The Luas drivers are not being greedy they are just not willing to sell out their new colleagues for a few pieces of silver
SIPTU and the NBRU are loving this because these private sector employees principles are being used as a test case before Dublin Bus , Bus Eireann, Irish Rail , and DART drivers issue there threat for increased salaries even though none of the semi-state services (which are shite compared the the Luas service) have ever or will ever make a profit.
All of the semi state public transport operators receive Subvention payments €4 Billion between them in the last ten years except for the Luas which receives NO subvention payments.
Dublin Bus, Bus Eireann, Irish Rail employees all receive 7 uncertified sick days per year, free GP care, free travel for family and staff throughout the entire country, triple pay on Sundays and Public Holidays.
The difference is you wont hear or see SIPTU and the NBRU sharing the Semi-state employees salaries and their little extras because its a closed shop nepotistic cartel.
They are circling like vultures waiting to pick the carcasses of the LUAS workers.
So when the dust settles on the Luas dispute and the service is running at its normal 3 minute peak service and the junkies and the winos have their free limo service back that will be just the beginning because ALL of the semi state operators will be downing tools and looking for more taxpayers monies to subsidise their already superior terms and conditions,
You will not see SIPTU and the NBRU vultures exposing their members terms and conditions of employment and of course as has always been the case the minister for transport will take out the taxpayers cheque book and give them exactly what they want which has been the case since forever.
He doesn’t have to intervene in this dispute because the Luas drivers where sold out by Siptu and the state from the start in 2003 when they signed a no-strike closed shop deal in order to stop the NBRU from getting the contract because at the time Mr. Dermott O’Leary was fully opposed to Luas workers being paid less than DART drivers.
I wonder why…!!!!
Except all those systems are closed and don’t operate on the roads. No country has automated trams that do.
They’re looking for more leverage – its a very hard job – trying not to fall asleep! – they’re on the wrong track – let them Luas – its a joke!
it seems the majority could do with reading this so
http://johnstepper.com/2013/10/26/the-five-monkeys-experiment-with-a-new-lesson/
I can’t believe as many as 12% support the luas drivers
Can anyone explain to me why you think a Luas driver with 10 years experience deserves €67 k per annum?
I can understand why a new junior doctor gets €30k, and after 10 years, he will be getting €70k, makes sense, as he has experience. He may even post grad to be a consultant, and get €130k. He deserves it. He will be saving lives.
A tram driver gets 1 week training, and he drives a tram.
After a few weeks, he will be fully experienced in tram driving.
After 10 years, he will be still driving a tram. But he will expect €67k p.a. Why ???
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