29 Galway bus drivers face the axe

Date Published: 28-Aug-2009

THE findings of a Labour Court hearing in Dublin this week will have major implications for 29 Bus Eireann drivers in the city who are facing the loss of their jobs over the coming months.

Swingeing cutbacks at Bus Eireann nationally, caused by reduced State funding and declining passenger numbers, has put the jobs of 29 drivers in the city on the line – overall there are 140 drivers employed at the Galway depot.

The proposed cuts will have also have major implications for commuters in the city, especially in the evening/night schedule which will take the brunt of the cost-cutting measures.

Several of those off-peak services will be cut back as the city’s Bus Eireann operations tries to operate within very stringent financial limits – buses from outlying areas in the county feeding into the city, including parts of Connemara and East Galway, look likely to face the axe too.

The city’s Bus Eireann drivers, who are members of the SIPTU and NBRU (National, Bus and Rail) unions, have been offered a voluntary redundancy package – however union officials have
described the offer as little better than the statutory deal available.

Bus Eireann are also attempting to push through a number of other cuts in pay and allowances which are being rejected by the unions, leading to hearings at the LRC (Labour Relations Commission) and the Labour Court on Tuesday in Dublin.

The drivers are at the coalface of the first raft of Bus Eireann savings although it seems likely that staff cuts in other sectors of the organisation will follow on, once the driver cuts have been dealt with.

Brian Connolly, Area Manager of Bus Eireann Galway, told the Galway City Tribune that he couldn’t comment in detail on the matter pending the outcome of the Labour Court hearing on the issue.

“We have no option but to operate under the budget constraints that we face, while over the past two years there has been roughly a 10% drop in passenger numbers which reflects the general economic downturn in shopping, jobs and tourism,” said Mr. Connolly.

He said that inevitably there would have to be a scaling back of services on certain routes but the details of this would…