Bus Eireann

Specialun

Looks like its about to get interesting

https://www.rte.ie/news/2017/0227/855768-bus-eireann/

Jack the Stripper

Will I get the popcorn op?

weldoninhio

It's losing millions. Needs to be overhauled. Going on strike isn't going to help.

Dirty Dingus McGee

I've said it before and I'll say it again public service workers should not be allowed to strike.They provide key services that people need and we're all paying taxes for them so there is no way in hell they should be closed because of an industrial dispute.They want to picket on their time off absolutely but services should not be shut down.

Coillte_Bhoy

Dirty Dingus McGee wrote: »

I've said it before and I'll say it again public service workers should not be allowed to strike.They provide key services that people need and we're all paying taxes for them so there is no way in hell they should be closed because of an industrial dispute.They want to picket on their time off absolutely but services should not be shut down.

Picket on their time off? wtf does that even mean, picket who exactly?

Dirty Dingus McGee

Coillte_Bhoy wrote: »

Picket on their time off? wtf does that even mean, picket who exactly?

They want to stand around with placards and protest outside their place of work (i.e bus depot) they should do it on their time off.

ClovenHoof

Disgusting CIE unions expecting the PAYE worker to pamper and indulge them like mortal gods. They can go fook right off.

The days of semi-state unions being the only game is town is over. We are talking about a company that until it was forced into doing it by private operators said there was no demand for bus travel between Ireland's cities after tea time...until very recently the last BE bus between Dublin and COrk was 6PM. This was to suit CIE Unions lifestyles, not public transport users.

Your Face

****e service.

Degag

Your Face wrote: »

****e service.

+1

I remember freezing with the cold waiting for buses when i was going to college. I'd say i could count on one hand the number of them that came on time. Drivers didn't give a ****e either.

ben.schlomo

Add in the disgraceful service issues e.g. pulling away from stops early, late leavng the depot due to having coffee, not stopping to pick up people waiting at designated stops, all issues ive been on the end of. The unions are ruining it for any of the decent drivers.

Yourself isit

Dirty Dingus McGee wrote: »

They want to stand around with placards and protest outside their place of work (i.e bus depot) they should do it on their time off.

They will be off. They will be on strike.

Wanderer78

we should just turn neoliberalism up to 11 and be done with it!

Spanish Eyes

So the striking workers will all keep their jobs at current rates after the strike and all will be well.

No redundancies, no worries.

Hmmm.

Dirty Dingus McGee

The experience on a private carrier is much better.I use Bus Eireann every day for work but the few times I've had to use a private bus company it's been a much better experience.

1 thing that Bus Eireann Bus Drivers cannot seem to learn is that no-one wants to listen to their radio.99% of People when on the bus want to either sleep,read or listen to their own music not be forced to have to listen to the bus drivers choice of radio, how the hell do they not have the cop on to realise this and just have the radio on in their own area of the bus so that no-one else has to hear it.It happens constantly in my experience and it's just a sign of not giving a **** about the customer.

jester77

They don't seem to be the brightest bunch of lads

misstearheus

Stand anywhere ya like, luggage doors are not operating. Stand anywhere ya like, luggage doors are not operating.

eeguy

Wanderer78 wrote: »

we should just turn neoliberalism up to 11 and be done with it!

That's laughable. Sinn Fein TD Inelda Muster (who's election slogan was "Vote for me because I'm a woman) said on the radio they're being paid a "meagre" wage of €634 a week. Yep. Nearly 50k a year for driving up and down a motorway is meagre. F*ck sake.

Yourself isit

eeguy wrote: »

That's laughable. Sinn Fein TD Inelda Muster (who's election slogan was "Vote for me because I'm a woman) said on the radio they're being paid a "meagre" wage of €634 a week. Yep. Nearly 50k a year for driving up and down a motorway is meagre. F*ck sake.

It's nowhere near 50k a year. I mean that would obviously mean slightly less than 1k a week

weekday

stand clear bus doors operating

eeguy

Yourself isit wrote: »

It's nowhere near 50k a year. I mean that would obviously mean slightly less than 1k a week

After tax?

The quote was something like "a meagre income of €634 per week", which I took to be after tax.

634 Before tax would be 33k (rounding up), and they're on much more than that.

PARlance

eeguy wrote: »

After tax?

The quote was something like "a meagre income of €634 per week", which I took to be after tax.

634 Before tax would be 33k (rounding up), and they're on much more than that.

And €634 weekly take home would be approx €45,000 salary.

eeguy

PARlance wrote: »

And €634 weekly take home would be approx €45,000 salary.

My point is that I wouldn't use the word "meagre" to describe a job that's 10k above the average industrial wage.

PARlance

eeguy wrote: »

My point is that I wouldn't use the word "meagre" to describe a job that's 10k above the average industrial wage.

Nothing meagre about it. I was just giving an accurate figure. It's not far off the 50k mentioned.

Mr.Micro

Bus Eireann is in financial trouble. So the drivers decide to go on strike to hasten the financial demise of the company and lose their jobs. Am I missing something here? That is our Irish logic.

abdulabduler

Mr.Micro wrote: »

Bus Eireann is in financial trouble. So the drivers decide to go on strike to hasten the financial demise of the company and lose their jobs. Am I missing something here? That is our Irish logic.

They will not lose their jobs, somebody else will take over and will be forced to keep the drivers under TUPE laws, which is a win for the drivers.

Victor

abdulabduler wrote: »

They will not lose their jobs, somebody else will take over and will be forced to keep the drivers under TUPE laws, which is a win for the drivers.

TUPE only applies in restricted circumstances.

force eleven

Government will stump up the money to keep it going and the unions will compromise on cuts. Sure as night follows day. There will be a long costly strike before that though. The ritual never changes.

ClovenHoof

force eleven wrote: »

Government will stump up the money to keep it going and the unions will compromise on cuts. Sure as night follows day. There will be a long costly strike before that though. The ritual never changes.

Things are different now. We actually have hundreds of thousands of business and commercial daily public transport commuters in Ireland now thanks to Luas and private bus operators winning them over. The days of CIE unions having a few grannies and priests as customers/bargaining chips is history.

The commuter holds the power now and will expect a hard line on the CIE unions or else they will punish the politicians come election time. As for the CIE unions, they are unaware of 21st century Ireland. They are perpetually living in the 1970s. Extinction looming. This will be their Waterloo.

howiya

ClovenHoof wrote: »

Things are different now. We actually have hundreds of thousands of business and commercial daily public transport commuters in Ireland now thanks to Luas and private bus operators winning them over. The days of CIE unions having a few grannies and priests as customers/bargaining chips is history.

The commuter holds the power now and will expect a hard line on the CIE unions or else they will punish the politicians come election time. As for the CIE unions, they are unaware of 21st century Ireland. They are perpetually living in the 1970s. Extinction looming. This will be their Waterloo.

I don't support the strike but I'd love to know what power commuters will have next Monday. My brother is dependent on BE for his commute to work. What power does he and others like him have?

As for punishing politicians, it's a merry go round between FF and FG so nothing much will change at the next election

skankkuvhima

I hope this serves as a reminder as to what FF would do in power

Former Transport Minister Noel Dempsey says if he was Shane Ross he'd intervene in the Bus Eireann dispute

http://www.kfmradio.com/news/28022017-1031/listen-ex-transport-minister-says-ross-should-intervene-bus-eireann-dispute

VinLieger

skankkuvhima wrote: »

I hope this serves as a reminder as to what FF would do in power



http://www.kfmradio.com/news/28022017-1031/listen-ex-transport-minister-says-ross-should-intervene-bus-eireann-dispute

Appease appease appease, then come out waving a peace of paper declaring "peace in our time" and just be back in the same place 2 years later

SEPT 23 1989

Busaras and Broadstone would get a good price in todays market

Nomis21

The Irish Government might decide to take a look at what the UK did when faced with a similar problem back in the 80's...

The National Bus Company that ran nearly all the bus routes in the UK was disbanded and private operators were offered the right to bid to run each route on the network based on their operating costs for the route and were paid their accepted bid offer to run the service. All fares collected were given to the authority advertising for the bids.

Yes, older vehicles were used, driver wages were lower and depots were sold and buses parked out in the open. Many drivers who lost their jobs received redundancy payments and many also accepted employment by the private companies at reduced rates of pay.

ClovenHoof

Nomis21 wrote: »

The Irish Government might decide to take a look at what the UK did when faced with a similar problem back in the 80's...

driver wages were lower and depots were sold and buses parked out in the open. Many drivers who lost their jobs received redundancy payments and many also accepted employment by the private companies at reduced rates of pay.

I don't give a toss. The end purpose is public transport and not workers solidaity and their pay, quality of life. This is not what we pay fares and taxes for

I don't care it BE drivers end up sucking cocks for loose change in Busaras. I have no emotional attachment to them.

It I get a decent public transport system, then anything else is irrelevant.

Winterlong

Tosser from the union was on the radio last night He was talking about the 55 cuts/changes that 'de mangement' were introducing from the start of march.
Some of them were reasonable he said, and we would be happy to negotiate. But some were red line issues.
For example, the removal of a training allowance. This is an allowance drivers get for training new drivers. An extra add-on additional to their basic salary. Fecks sake, woulnt it be great to get extra cash for all the work you do that is above the basics of your role.

I would love to see them all hoofed out and their union agreement shoved up their hole. But the reported average 200k redundancy payments tempers that a bit.

Parchment

Dirty Dingus McGee wrote: »

I've said it before and I'll say it again public service workers should not be allowed to strike.They provide key services that people need and we're all paying taxes for them so there is no way in hell they should be closed because of an industrial dispute.They want to picket on their time off absolutely but services should not be shut down.

I cant believe this - you actually think public servants should not have a right to strike?

Hector Bellend

Dirty Dingus McGee wrote: »

They want to stand around with placards and protest outside their place of work (i.e bus depot) they should do it on their time off.

You clearly dont understand the concept of strikes do you?

Hector Bellend

SEPT 23 1989 wrote: »

Busaras and Broadstone would get a good price in todays market

They'd probably sell it to a bank and extend the IFSC

Aint Eazy Being Cheezy

ClovenHoof wrote: »

I don't care it BE drivers end up sucking cocks for loose change in Busaras. I have no emotional attachment to them.

I couldn't agree more. The feeling is mutual too. I once had to get a BE bus to Dublin from a stop at the roadside. Only had a €50 note. The driver just shrugged and said he couldn't break it, he had no change. Only for someone on the bus helped me out, he'd have put me off.

Dirty Dingus McGee

Parchment wrote: »

I cant believe this - you actually think public servants should not have a right to strike?

Yeah, thats right.

They can protest all they want on their time off but they should not be allowed to deny the general public key services which we all pay for through taxation.

Dirty Dingus McGee

Hector Bellend wrote: »

You clearly dont understand the concept of strikes do you?

I do actually.It involves holding the country to ransom until the government caves.They shouldn't be allowed to do that.

Dirty Dingus McGee

Dirty Dingus McGee wrote: »

I do actually.It involves holding the country to ransom until the government caves.They shouldn't be allowed to do that.

Thanks be to Jesus the state and private corporations have not been holding workers to ransom for years now, using the "recession" as the excuse to purge workers, increase and expand the range of taxation imposed upon us while reducing public services but managing to pay off rich private foreign gamblers. Oh wait.

Meanwhile, year after year we are told that the owners of the same huge corporations are richer than they've ever been and that inequality is now greater than at any time since 1945. And then we have the very same senior Irish civil servants and politicians who out Haughey Haughey with their "As a nation we are living beyond on means" speeches and articles while enjoying utterly obscene salaries and pensions from as young as 34 years of age (e.g. John Bruton, whose pension last year alone was €140,000, 35 years after first receiving his pension as a 34-year-old in 1982). Defend that, Neoliberals!

The leaders of this government and civil service and their "Do as we say not as we do" approach to the finances of this state deserve the abject contempt of all thinking Irish citizens. Likewise, the "Only the little people pay taxes" mentality of the tax-dodging uber rich of this brave new Neoliberal world.

It's long past time that workers made a stand against the incessant overthrow of workers rights and working conditions while the tax-dodging rich get richer on their work.

Lastly, if you're not worth at least a billion yourself it's beyond strange that anybody here would defend the above.

Dirty Dingus McGee

Deleted User wrote: »

Thanks be to Jesus the state and private corporations have not been holding workers to ransom for years now, using the "recession" as the excuse to purge workers, increase and expand the range of taxation imposed upon us while reducing public services but managing to pay off rich private foreign gamblers. Oh wait.

Meanwhile, year after year we are told that the owners of the same huge corporations are richer than they've ever been and that inequality is now greater than at any time since 1945. And then we have the very same senior Irish civil servants and politicians who out Haughey Haughey with their "As a nation we are living beyond on means" speeches and articles while enjoying utterly obscene salaries and pensions from as young as 34 years of age (e.g. John Bruton, whose pension last year alone was €140,000, 35 years after first receiving his pension as a 34-year-old in 1982). Defend that, Neoliberals!

The leaders of this government and civil service and their "Do as we say not as we do" approach to the finances of this state deserve the abject contempt of all thinking Irish citizens. Likewise, the "Only the little people pay taxes" mentality of the tax-dodging uber rich of this brave new Neoliberal world.

It's long past time that workers made a stand against the incessant overthrow of workers rights and working conditions while the tax-dodging rich get richer on their work.

Lastly, if you're not worth at least a billion yourself it's beyond strange that anybody here would defend the above.

Please explain how Bus Eireann workers are being mistreated?

Bus Eireann workers are overpaid compared to private bus drivers.Why are they being paid more than the going rate for their job? Could that possibly be why the company is short of money.

We let go 25 people from our office last year and they had no choice but to accept it because there just wasn't any work for these people.That's the way it is for the vast majority of people.

Why should the general public suffer despite having done nothing wrong.


This strike is not about standing up for anyone apart from themselves it isn't a sign of some stand being made for the working classes who are being exploited because by and large most workers aren't being exploited by their employers. Nobody will benefit from this strike apart from those striking they are looking after themselves and only themselves.

I'm not denying the workers right to protest and stand up for themselves as anyone should but I don't think they should be allowed to disrupt hundreds of thousands of people who depend on the service.

I'm all for a better bus service and I don't have a problem with them making losses as that is what happens with public transport companies as they sometimes have to provide a service that is not profitable for the public good but why are the workers being paid well above the market rate for doing the exact same job.It doesn't make any sense.Everybody else in the world has to put up with being paid the market rate for the job they do, that's the way the world works.

The pensions our retired politicians receive are nothing short of a disgrace they but this has absolutely nothing to do with this issue.

mikeym

The bus drivers and staff who work behind the scenes in BE seem to strike every couple of years.

They are a hard crowd to please.

eeguy

mikeym wrote: »

The bus drivers and staff who work behind the scenes in BE seem to strike every couple of years.

They are a hard crowd to please.

It's constant "keeping up with the Jones" between bus, LUAS and rail workers.

NikoTopps

I don't use Bus Éireann but I am really hope that for people that do Iarnród Éireann or someone else will swoop in and offer discount or something. But this is Éire so probably they will charge normal price&transport will be swamp from Monday onwards!!

Victor

NikoTopps wrote: »

I don't use Bus Éireann but I am really hope that for people that do Iarnród Éireann or someone else will swoop in and offer discount or something. But this is Éire so probably they will charge normal price&transport will be swamp from Monday onwards!!

You expect a discount when there will be excess demand?

jamesbere

NikoTopps wrote: »

I don't use Bus Éireann but I am really hope that for people that do Iarnród Éireann or someone else will swoop in and offer discount or something. But this is Éire so probably they will charge normal price&transport will be swamp from Monday onwards!!

Iarnrod eireann are just as screwed as bus eireann, can't see discounts been given. With high demand I wouldn't be surprised if prices go up.

suicide_circus

Aint Eazy Being Cheezy wrote: »

I couldn't agree more. The feeling is mutual too. I once had to get a BE bus to Dublin from a stop at the roadside. Only had a €50 note. The driver just shrugged and said he couldn't break it, he had no change. Only for someone on the bus helped me out, he'd have put me off.

Yeah I get the feeling there might be more support for BE drivers if they weren't so consistently crabby and ignorant towards customers

NikoTopps

Victor wrote: »

You expect a discount when there will be excess demand?

I don't expect a thing as I do not use Bus Éireann but Iarnród Éireann is much more expensive than Bus Éireann in many case and the bus is a lifeline to many (mostly rural) people. But often those rural people have had their rail station closed already so I do not know...

the_syco

Your Face wrote: »

****e service.

Privatize it and Dublin Bus, and don't force the company to do any routes that they don't want. Anyone in rural areas, and Finglas will not get any buses!

:pac: