@Mike Ryan: Buses rarely break down. Perhaps you could get a job protecting the city from polar bear attack. Your skills might be used more frequently.

@Mike Ryan: you are free to go and fix buses for Kavanaghs.

Solidarity with the Bus Eireann workers.
Our neoliberal state is attempting to privatize the public transport system exactly as they did with communications, energy, waste collection etc etc. Bus Eireann has been deliberately undermined over many years with the private operators gifted the lucrative routes between urban centers and big towns driving of course on the state constructed motorway network while BE serves the social service loss making runs to small towns, villages and rural areas.

The private bus operators did not build the motorways which their businesses benefit massively from. In fact no private transport operator would exists without the publically provided road network. All private capitalist enterprise ultimately rests on the human and infrastructural resources which society has provided collectively usually through the mechanism of the state.

Unlike private enterprise, the state is not required to operate on a for profit basis and can take a much broader view of what’s best for society generally. So the mainstream narrative pretending that Bus Eireann needs to be run with the objective of making a profit is risible nonsense.

The public transport utilities not be dismembered and thrown to the free market wolves. Bus Eireann, Iarnrod Eireann etc should be operated by the state with the twin objectives of providing an efficient service for the public and decent jobs for the workers. If some components of the service do make a profit then they can be reinvested in the network to benefit everyone.

Good man Paddy, Busses rarely break down, might be something to do with guys like Mike maintaining them. Modern vehicles actually require a high degree of maintaining compared to older and simpler types particularly in relation to fuel and emissions systems. Its highly technical work as well.

@David Mac Shite: A monkey could maintain a modern bus.

In that case you seem eminently qualified.

Cop on buses have to be maintained or there would be none on the road in either Dublin or the country

@Simon Peters: Nothing left for workers after the management done a runner with very generous goodbye money.

They did not do a runner per say. Three top BE executives were paid off with massive gratuities (rumored circa half a mill each) given healthy pensions and quietly ushered out the back door before the faeces hit the fan and before an investigation into allegations of massive corruption could take place. A lot more going on here and the 3 amigeos silence has been bought and paid for.

@OwenK74: If the expressway bus routes were to strike it would severely undermine the bargaining position of the drivers with most people along those routes changing to the private suppliers who are already at a significant advantage with none of the routes dictated by communities.

Although I fully support the drivers a much more effective situation would be a work to rule of some sort where the drivers refused certain parts of their job such as the collection of fares. This would ensure the passengers are firmly on the side of the workers and no routines of passengers to use the private route are initiated. A clear point would be made by the strikers and public opinion would stay in the workers favor.

The drivers have no choice but to take industrial action. They are faced with a cowardly parachute management from the retail industry who have used economist reports and a complicit media to convey their message about selective costs of the operation without any regard to the value of the service, a public service. I stand with the drivers, lets fight to keep our public services public.

The point being that privates will not operate on non profit routes through the villages of Ireland with a social obligation but no revenue. This is what BE are mandated to do and cannot by definition break even let alone turn a profit. The revenue generating routes which cross subsidised the social ones were gifted to privates in a strategy designed to deliberately make BE fail and usher in total privatisation of public transport without public debate or approval. Watch the inevitable fare increase and service reduction when BE is dismantled as you will then have an effectively private monopoly with no concern for social needs of rural Ireland. This is not about wages, it’s about policy although hands off Ross would have you believe otherwise. I’m generally anti strike but not in this case. A work to rule is ineffective as putting a band aid on a bullet wound.

Ha ha class

@pathches – The privatisation of energy, communications and waste collection has been a roaring success over the years.

I have tried a few refuse companies and always had a great service so I get to pick based on their price offers.
Communications have vastly improved where we have multiple operators competing on service levels and price vs waiting the old 3 weeks for telecom eireann.
Energy is another success story with multiple providers keeping prices down and competing on service. For my part I have picked a provider based on their services in this area rather than the cheapest.

What’s the issue?

Bullsheet.

@Mike Ryan: I thought that one of the proposals was to sub contract the maintenance of buses, would make things far more efficient for the company in the long run. Its the way most transport fleets operate.

@Cathal S Byrne: I knew labourers earning more than that on building sites in Ireland. And they will again when thing pick up. Beofre I could ay 700 a week was too much for any given job I’d have to know what hours they do, and what the job description is. It’s not all about qualifications. We have 750k people in Ireland with degrees now. Many have useless degrees not worth the paper they are written on and haven’t a hope of earning a living from their chosen field. Yet they are skilled, to a point.

Personally, I believe that an unskilled labourer who breaks his balls on a building site all day should be paid good money. I think he should be paid more than I am despite the fact I’m qualified and paid in income tax last year what a bus driver gets net.

@Paddy Lions: Not everything a state runs is supposed to be or can be profitable.

@Dave Doyle: Close RTE as well.

@Paddy Lions: Have you got another few hundred million available for the RTE workers as well ?
Anyone in the country you don’t want sacked ?

That’s quite a few hundred millions you’ve listed between BE and RTÉ. If it would cost that much in redundancy payments then it shows pretty well how generous the wage packages are and all the more reason to shut them down

@Buster VL: Buster never let the truth get in the way of a good story, that is you.
RTE said that if expressway closes down then the government will lose 10million in taxes from the 550 less staff.
They have over 2,500 staff, so the tax man gets back over 50million from the staff and the government gives them 40 million for commuter services.
Result: The government make 10million a year profit !!!!!!
Or would you like everyone sacked and hundreds of millions to go to redundancies ?????
You really are the village idiot !!!!

They are inundated with people trying to get a job with them, I’ve tried for the last 5 years and was never once called for an interview. I gave up and moved on.

That’s their full day as I pointed out including the break time . Also the travelling time from garage to first stop and from last stop to return to garage.

@AlanH -AFC:
Ahh I see.

I’m awake at least 14 hours a day also – never thought to average out my earnings that way though.