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LUAS OPERATOR TRANSDEV says they have had “positive” talks with three of the four worker grades represented by Siptu.
However, talks with drivers have yet to be scheduled.
Yesterday trade union Siptu said it had agreed to cancel the 48-hour work stoppage planned for this weekend to facilitate talks.
A statement from Transdev says:
“We had a positive engagement with 3 of the 4 Grades represented by SIPTU today ( Revenue Protection Officers, Revenue Protection Supervisors and Traffic Supervisors ) and further meetings are planned over the next 24 – 48 hours.
The Company has no further comment to make while these talks are ongoing.”
In relation to drivers, both parties are working to agree a mutually convenient date and expect to finalise that by close of business today.
The dispute has run for over two months, with drivers striking across February and Easter weekend.
Further work stoppages are still planned for 28 April, 4 May, 13 May, 20 May, 26 May and 27 May.
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DIVIDE – and conquer….
In the end they will accept less than they rejected a few weeks ago They are badly advised by their union
I’m so tired of this matter already. Just give them the P45s already.
It seems to me that the grades mentioned here are the reasonable ones and also the ones who are most deserving of pay rises. They will have to deal with the public and when there are more passengers (as is envisioned by Transdev) they will have to deal with more people, Also, at most points during this debacle we’ve seen they’re the ones who are willing to talk.
Tram Drivers, conversely, are seeking the largest pay rise, have been the least cooperative and even if the number of tram user numbers increase will still be doing the same amount of work anyway.
Transdev should make a deal with the Ticket and traffic staff and let the drivers hang themselves with rope provided by the SIPTU.
To be honest while I’m no fan of SIPTU this one looks more driver lead than the union.
The union recommended the last offer
The workers have backed down or they will lose their jobs and rightly so. The unions promised them the world and delivered them unpopularity in return. Unions are the ruination of the working population and have designed a level of entitlement that’s unrealistic in the real world. It’s time we looked st these union leaders and their ridiculous salaries and the way they justify their worth by taking workers on a merry dance with no hope of success. All this to justify their own jobs!
Their union advised them to take it. It is the couple of contrary shop stewards that have the drivers poisoned. I’ve seen other union committees infected by republican socialist nutjobs who have no sense of reason.
James it seems it’s a shop steward or 2 linked to AAA.
Jane, You are so right. Have a look at these twisted eejits, God love them. http://m.independent.ie/irish-news/shop-stewards-aim-to-reclaim-unions-and-defeat-privatisation-34626125.html Staff need these skangers like a hole in the head. With union reps like this who needs enemies? Would have got more by collaboration with transdev instead of trying to shaft them. Management will provide payback for this for years to come… well done union rep eirefreejoe as he calls himself.
Someone on an interview board has lot to answer for.
itssssss WALLLLLY
You have the tone all wrong Assel….
It’s
Wherrreeeeeeee’s WALLY
Your logic is deeply flawed Sarah. The cause of the working class is only ever advanced significantly and sustainably through collective action, solidarity and struggle against the capitalist system. The lives of the majority are only bearable because of the many battles fought and won by the earlier unions for example. Minimum wage, 40 hour working week, workplace health and safety, universal health care and education, state pension etc etc etc. None of these concessions to the working class were willingly gifted by capital but we’re fought and won over centuries of socialist struggle.
Though you are correct on the union leaders salaries. O’Connor and the rest should draw the same average wages as the workers they represent.
Found.
Unfortunately
Ah here we go again!!
I see the Independent is continuing its century long tradition of demonizing the working class while protecting the interests of the capitalist elite, the class of it’s owner Denis O Brien:
“While the capitalist establishment in the South is more than willing to celebrate the rising in this centenary year, their forebears took an altogether different attitude surrounding the rising and those who participated int it. Nowhere is this more exemplified than in an editorial that appeared in the Irish Independent on May 10, 1916, with a picture of James Connolly beside it, which called for ‘’…the worst of the ringleaders [to] be singled out and dealt with as they deserve.’’
A mortally wounded Connolly was executed two days later. The paper’s proprietor, William Martin Murphy, leader of the 404 bosses that had locked out Dublin’s working class in 1913, had effectively campaigning for his execution. It was only after this was carried out that the paper called for clemency.”
http://socialistparty.ie/2016/03/the-1916-rising-lessons-for-today/
The spirit of William Martin Murphy is alive and well in the Journal comments section. Solidarity with the Luas drivers , the Tesco and Cadbury workers, the 999 operators, , the nurses, the teachers and all workers struggling to obtain a greater share of the wealth which we create.
Do you ever get tired spouting sh*te Wally. Sack them all, bring in the army while new drivers are trained.
Why the army? They don’t know how to drive trams and would need to be trained as well. Just train new drivers and in the meantime provide a bus service as they wanted to do over Easter
AAA Absolute shyte, pure nonsensical shyte. So sad and pitiful, you have no idea. As much as you try to associate luas drivers with other legitimate strikes and Connolly etc , nobody os having it at all. Your a billboard for anti hard left, keep it up.
Wally. I doubt you create any wealth. Would ya ever get over yourself you fool
Here he is..”macro economy ” blah blah …”working class” blah blah “bankers and bondholders” blah blah. “money supply” blah …
Blah… “Wealth that we create”… Blah..
Wally, without free enterprise and venture capital, you wouldn’t have a tram to drive. You would not have a mobile phone, or the internet to spread your socialist drivell.
Can the journal do a poll please? Would people accept the luas shut down for 7 weeks whilst the operator train all new staff so they can fire the rest? I would absolutely vote for it!
Let’s go ahead then. We have the support of some anonymous bigmouth who probably stays silent when in public.
@Michael, why is he anonymous. I would openly in public say I oppose this and they should be fired.. Maybe they should the news around and stop people on the street and ask them.. Virtually noone supports these “workers”
We did without the Luas before, we can endure. The driver’s can go to hell!
drivers*
That’s exactly what I’ve being saying. 500,000 extra people turned up over the Easter Weekend and while it wasn’t ideal the city’s transport system didn’t implode. It’s a convenient service no doubt but the Dublin could survive without it for a few weeks. Now though it looks like the drivers don’t have the rest of the company onside let alone the public. Game over for them.
I’ve also seen to have elevated Dublin to “The Dublin”… sorry.
@Paddy, why should we have to do without it. I use it to get to work everyday. The bus is a pain in the ass, and takes prob an extra 30-40 mins because its a sh*t route etc.. So the public should not be made suffer for their greed
Why Paddy would it be game over for the driver’s if the other grades accept their increases? They are ticket checkers ,controllers and signal operators if the drivers don’t operate then they can’t work so it’s still the driver’s in the driving seat. Like most on this issue on this site you really know jack shi t about disputes
Replace the driver’s if necessary, greed pure greed that’s all it is.
Watched Jack O Conner on the Clair Byrne show on TV it looks very like the Union has lost its bottle for a fight and are looking for a easy way out and to salvage something from the dispute.
My apologies for the spelling my phone is one step ahead of me.
Siptu is losing members hand over fist as are other unions because they get into bed with companies too often but now the workers have had enough of it so they are doing what shouldn’t need to be done forcing the unions to stand up for them…..
You think the journal will have an editing caption to correct the spelling mistakes?
I think the striking drivers should be offered the hourly pay rise they’ve asked for, but on a zero-hour contract. Then hire a fleet of new drivers who’d be grateful for the already generous wages & use the expensive drivers just to cover last minute sick days.
The Luas “Drivers” have zero sympathy from me, but we can’t allow our dislike for these greedy opportunist people to bring in zero-hour contract. This is the worst form of employment one can imagine. The Dunnes Stores workers are currently fighting against it. Nobody working full time, no matter how stupid they are deserves a zero-hour contract.
I disagree. The current drivers are holding transdev & commuters of Dublin to ransom. They’re not backing down because they know it’ll cost transdev a fortune to fire them/pay redundancies. A zero-hour contract in return for the rediculous pay rise would be a suitable reward for how they’ve been biting the hand that feeds them
@Dave – why would Transdev have to pay them redundancy? Why will they have to pay to fire them.
If they don’t accept the offer on the table and continue with the strike, especially if the other workers do return, then I believe they can be fired for not fulfilling their duties and obligations under the terms of their contract.
@Patlyndo
Are you sure about that?
If the union has observed the proper notice periods and any other related rules I very much doubt they can be sacked.
Yes it would be very interesting to know what the legal ramifications would be.. I’m sure the company are all over this like a rash and will exercise anything they can.
Dave you working in Dunnes too long
@Patlyndo: as P.J. pointed out, the union aren’t going to allow the workers get into a position where they can be fired for their strike action, so straight-up firing isn’t an option. The drivers have been working long enough that they’re in a position where firing them would be costly to Transdev (like if they all sued for unfair dismissal, the legal costs alone to defend Transdev would be huge)
@The Destroyer: I agree that Transdev are probably all over the legal side of things, put I also assume that they don’t want to come across as the bad guys in such a public dispute so are probably reluctant to be heavy-handed in their response. It’s a shame really, to let themselves be bullied like this.
@Anthony Whelan: I never worked for Dunnes, but I did spend many years working different jobs on zero-hour contracts. I found that doing the job well & not having a sense of entitlement served me well. Yes, it was definitely a pain sometimes not knowing if I’d be working a given day or not. My solution was to get a 2nd, sometimes 3rd part-time job and work WITH the employer to try & come up with a way to balance everything. It worked a whole lot better than just whinging about the problem & hoping someone else would fix it for me
@P.J. They can’t be sacked for engaging in industrial action. But if the company is losing money and its viability threatened, then they can be dismissed for not fulfilling their contractual obligations.
The company will be posting a loss for this year, each striking day they are fined 100k for not providing the service.
Transdev have played the game, negotiated with the union, negotiated with the WRC and they made an offer that the workers own union recommended.
If the other 3 departments accept Transdev’s offer and the drivers don’t – then my understanding is that they can all be dismissed.
“@Patlyndo: as P.J. pointed out, the union aren’t going to allow the workers get into a position where they can be fired for their strike action, so straight-up firing isn’t an option. ”
Who said that they could be fired for their strike action? I said:
“I believe they can be fired for not fulfilling their duties and obligations under the terms of their contract.”
“The drivers have been working long enough that they’re in a position where firing them would be costly to Transdev (like if they all sued for unfair dismissal, the legal costs alone to defend Transdev would be huge)”
But it won’t be unfair dismissal Dave. If you fail to fulfil the terms of your contract and the company is being fined 100k per strike day and you have been put on protective notice, you’re not going to dismissed because you’re on strike, you’re going to be dismissed because the company can no longer afford to pay you – because they’re in financial difficulty.
>”Who said that they could be fired for their strike action?”
My apologies, I oversimplified what I was saying. I didn’t mean that they’d be fired specifically for striking. I meant more along the lines of what you said: ” for not fulfilling their duties and obligations under the terms of their contract” which is essentially caused by their strike action. I just shortened it down a bit too much.
>”But it won’t be unfair dismissal Dave. If you fail to fulfil the terms of your contract and the company is being fined 100k per strike day and you have been put on protective notice, you’re not going to dismissed because you’re on strike, you’re going to be dismissed because the company can no longer afford to pay you – because they’re in financial difficulty.”
I won’t claim to be any kind of legal expert here, but as far as I was aware, Transdev would need to fire all of them & never employ any of them again, to avoid any unfair dismissal claims in this instance. Doing that would mean that the Luas would be out of action while new drivers were hired & trained, etc. During this time, Transdev would be fined for being out of service(100k per day, as you mentioned), lost earnings, training & employment costs, etc. Also, I doubt that all the drivers would go quietly in that scenario so I reckon many of them would try to take any kind of legal action they can. Whether it’s justified or not, Transdev’s legal team would be kept busy.
On a side-note, having considered things a bit further, my original suggestion of getting them on a zero-hour contract could potentially be considered grounds for constructive dismissal, which could prove equally expensive. I don’t really envy Transdev in this one, the drivers really have them over a barrel
53% pay rise for pushing the lever forward ( or backward) .
Getting paid more than Gardai or new college graduates in most professions
So Gardai and college graduates are underpaid worse than the Luas drivers are underpaid. So we should spit on the Luas drivers because, while they are underpaid, it’s not quite as badly as other profession. Great argument sir.
Underpaid in relation to who? Heavy Train drivers? Goods Train drivers? DART, Commuter, Intercity, Enterprise, and all Goods trains are a hell of a lot heavier and harder to control than the light rail LUAS. More training required, longer journeys all equate to deserving higher pay than paddle pushers. 3 of the 4 grades accepted to counter proposal from Transdev, the drivers rejected. Now they are being left behind by those 3 other grades.
Underpaid in comparison to the cost of living and rate of inflation in the region in which they live and work?
And that is the problem Kevin – the solution is not to continually increase wages, the solution is to tackle the cost of living.
Why do we have the most expensive electricity in Europe – paying 21% more than the UK?
I wonder what the wages in the UK is in the comparable sector?
These wage demands are being driven by the CB mortgage rules and the high cost of housing – we need to tackle this.
Why are our insurance premiums through the roof – well we might swing our head in the general direction of the legal profession and the courts insistent on giving out crazy compensation.
What about the medical profession – want a Doctors report – you’ll pay 350 euro for it.
We are chasing the rising costs of living again, we are trying to get around the mortgage rules.
The problem is the cost of living and the many problems in many areas and professions.
Yes Jimmy isn’t that terrible
Come on Jimmy. They have a door button to press, and a horn as well. Tram drivers should be on par with the professional classes.
Where’s Wally?
Afraid to show his face after the comrades backed down?
I’m suspicious Wally is less likely to comment on this particular matter, or at the very least disappear, when provided with facts that shows he’s full of it.
Where’s Wally ?
It’s a beautiful day. Wally’s probably in a park with a flaggen of cider. It’s too bright for him to see his phone screen properly
Transdev should draft in drivers from England or France to push the button on the trains. The public would thank them.
Speak for yourself , I would never thank a corporation for bringing in scab labour
Wally is in a meeting at the moment. Normal service (pardon the pun) will be resumed shortly…………………
He only comments on the top story so he is “heard” lol
My guess is that the drivers are trying to get the deal that they turned down, they’ve realised that transdev have no intention of backing down!
Drivers aren’t workers apparently
Not when they’re striking every other week, anyway.
Superbly misleading title there Paul ;-)
why are people so insistent about comparing the wages of Luas workers to Gardai? Nurses? etc?Why are workers not sticking together? and comparing wages to CEO’S ? Politicians?
Why compare the 5k , 10k or even 20k difference in another persons blue collar salary? Why are we not ALL looking at the real inequity and fighting the real problem?
have your say