Updated 16.50
A DRAFT PROPOSAL before the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) would see 120 driving jobs at Bus Éireann cut.
Talks aimed at breaking the deadlock in the company’s strike resumed today after a 12-hour session yesterday.
It’s understood that the draft plan would see the 120 drivers exit the company within the next 12 months.
Talks have gone on for over 40 hours since unions and management came back to the table at the WRC.
“The issue of headcount reduction would not be unusual when talking about efficiencies,”Dermot O’Leary, general secretary with the NBRU, told TheJournal.ie.
What is problematic however, is that while on one hand you’re locked in talks, yet other broader issues are at play.
As long as the Department of Transport and the NTA (National Transport Authority) remain aloof the more difficult it will be to get an overarching and sustainable agreement.
Transport Minister Shane Ross has to date declined to become involved in either the negotiations or the dispute as a whole.
When contacted by TheJournal.ie Bus Éireann declined to comment on the draft proposal.
Yesterday had seen some progress at the talks, though issues of pay and conditions remained sticking points.
While the negotiations are ongoing, most of the country is without bus services as the all-out strike enters its 17th day.
In Cork, Limerick and Galway, the strike is being described as hugely damaging.
Retailers group Retail Excellence has called for a resolution to the dispute, saying that retail workers are losing out.
Earlier this week, over 100 workers at the company lodged a petition with RTÉ calling for “fair and balanced coverage” of the dispute.
First published 8am
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