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Updated 8.50am
AN ORGANISATION REPRESENTING students has condemned the failure of Bus Éireann management to resolve a dispute with their workers, resulting in what they call “travel misery for tens of thousands of students”.
Members of the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) have said they support striking bus workers, and have asked that the Minister for Transport Shane Ross to intervene to seek a resolution.
Speaking during the latest short-notice stoppage, USI President Annie Hoey said:
“This dispute has gone beyond the dispute between management and workers – it has created a complete gridlock for students seeking to get home and to college.
She said that “tens of thousands of students” rely on Bus Éireann and Irish Rail to travel around the country, and are unsure if they’ll be able to make critical classes in the lead up to exam season.
The failure to negotiate isn’t just causing inconvenience – it’s causing enormous anxiety and stress for people at the most difficult time of the year.
Yesterday, NBRU spokesperson Dermot O’Leary said that it was his understanding that Irish Rail workers would not strike in solidarity with their colleagues this week.
This morning, it was confirmed that train services would operate as normal.
On RTÉ’s News at One, he called on Ministers John Halligan, Finian McGrath and Boxer Moran to support the bus strikes.
He suggested that Coras Iompair Éireann (CIE) provide funding for the company to help it financially in the short-term, before a long-term resolution can be agreed.
Minister for Transport Shane Ross is to appear before an Oireachtas Committee this week to explain the current situation at Bus Éireann.
His last appearance before the committee was a feisty affair, with Ross refusing all calls to intervene in the industrial dispute.
With reporting from Sean Murray
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As a student and member of a USI associated union I’ve seen nothing asking if we or our union should support.
USI can get f’ed as far as I am concerned, they don’t represent me
@Jonathan O Neill: I’ll be fine in a few months when I get to take my degrees overseas away from this sorry excuse for a state
@Ian: off with ya so
@Ian: solidarity with people taking their degrees overseas.
@lavbeer: finally some solidarity that makes sense
Lazy bus drivers on huge money should not deny the chances of workers and students to get to work , school and college
And as for the lazy train drivers , why the hell are they striking?
They are all earning far too much
All irish rail services are going today, private buses,car share,cycle, many ways to get around this ‘bus’ strike.
Well done to the USI for expressing solidarity with the striking workers and laying the blame where it belongs at the feet of a neoliberal government trying to privatize the public transport system. Education of course is also in their privatization crosshairs.
It is just totally unacceptable in this day and age that there is no bus service at all between certain towns. This strike should not be allowed in this form and surely management and the government can resolve the underlying issues as well. Solve the issues and implement legislation that disruptive strikes of this nature are illegal is the way to go.
@Seanie Murphy: The garda, nurses, and public transport should not be allowed to strike. That is already law in many nations.
Imagine if the fire brigade went on strike, buildings and people would just burn. And their pay is much worse than any of those that went on strike.
Thankfully we live in the EU where workers rights are protected and all workers are entitled to strike.
Students are a very resourceful bunch. If they want to get to college they’ll get there.
@mickmc: Hmmm, yes, so many ways to get from ashford to dublin. If youre not in a big city bus eireann is the only form of transport.
@Andy K: I’m sure there is some private operator if you look hard enough. If not go out on the road to Dublin and stick the thumb out. It’s an old fashioned idea but it called hitching a lift kid. It was very popular back in the 80′s and 90′s.
@mickmc: I think you overestimate the private bus sector. When routes arent very profitable then there is no private bus. Also, you dont have to look very hard in a small town.
And if hitching a lift is the only option then it is a very sad state of affairs. It may have been popular 20 years ago but if you suggest that it shows how out of touch you are with the world.
@Andy K: I’m sure you’ll think of something.
@Andy K: how far are you away from a big Town that is connected? Ask for a lift, or borrow a car to get somewhere with a private operator. It’s a small country where you can’t depend on any semi state services, as they are likely to strike every 5 years.
@Andy K: if not profitable them there is no bus – of course And that is why BE is given subsidies to run unprofitable routes. But expressway which is at the heart of this dispute cannot be funded.
@Gulliver Foyle: that’s pretty hard to do when you’re commuting every day?
Is this all about Students? What about the tens of thousands that use Bus Éireann to get to work and to Hospital appointments every day? Now is the time to let the Private operators at it, open the thing up, let the bus drivers take a bit of a lesson out of this.
This is the perfect example of the Celtic Tiger knock on effects in action, no more than the banks giving loans that wouldn’t or couldn’t be paid back, the wages now have been increased to a level that drivers got used to, which they had every right to, but also led to living lives, that if anything had happened to wages, would be massively effected financially. In my opinion the drivers aren’t at fault for taking wage increases back then, who wouldn’t have? But rather the blame is on BE for not seeing how such high wages would be unacceptable down the line. Its not just in the last few years that they have been losing money. Its complete mismanagement of wages and funds and while I see the drivers discontent, getting €45000-€55000 a year is a hell of a lot better than what I or most families are making per person a year. There will never be a solution here that will keep drivers happy and stop BE losing money like this. Someone somewhere is going to have to take cuts, private sector people did it reluctantly but we are living nonetheless.
It would be nice if Annie hoey worried less about what bus eireann drivers are doing and started offering more in the way of actual support to the members of her own union. Time to reach in to the USI budget and start laying on some private coaches.
Could the students not go home at the weekend and do their own laundry? I didn’t go home every weekend when I was at university.
@Damocles: those were the days :) unfortunately due to the accommodation shortage a lot of students are living in rooms let out in private houses during the week. Unfortunately they want them to be gone by Friday evening and won’t let them back until Sunday evening / night as they want the house to themselves for the weekend. So a lot of students have no option but to go home at the weekend unless they want to be homeless for two days.
Write an app that allows students to pool their resources and cars and travel plans to help each other out.
This strike should teach the government a lesson that they shouldhave adopted the Transport21 plan years ago. It is ridiculous that half the country is without a rail network to service Dublin, Meath and the north western counties.
@Chris Kirk: The Government haven’t caused this strike. If you are going to blame anyone, blame the correct groups, the Unions and Management.
Bus Eireann are about to go bankrupt. They are about to be declared insolvent. Not the Governments fault.
Well folks there you have it, USI says the drivers are in the right so just get on with paying them too much so the students can get back to dossing in college and not have to look at mammy all day. Unreal stuff, great little country to do business.
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