Republican News · Thursday 16 January 2002

Bus and rail workers protest

Bus and rail drivers took to the streets of Dublin yesterday en masse to protest against the planned restructuring of CIE.

Thousands of members of the National Bus and Rail Union and SIPTU stopped work for four hours, causing all public transport services to be suspended, and marched through Dublin City to Leinster House

Transport Minister Seamus Brennan has recently fast-tracked proposals to dissolve CIÉ and create competition between the three state transport providers and with private operators, but unions say they are being kept in the dark over details of the changes and insist their job security is under threat.

In the last few weeks, the minister has been awarding new licences to private operators at the expense of Bus Éireann and Dublin Bus, despite saying he was willing to enter into talks with the unions last December.

NBRU general secretary Liam Tobin apologised to the public for the suspension of services but said that industrial action is the only thing that the government will respond to.

Sinn Féin Cllr Larry O'Toole said yesterday that he fully supports the transport workers. "If the transport system goes down the road of privatisation, there will be a major decline in services for the public," he warned. "In Britain, bus fares rose by up to 53% in many cities following privatisation there, and passenger numbers fell by almost 15%, with people turning to cars for transport. We're trying to solve traffic gridlock in the city, not create more."

Liam Tobin said that he believed the public would support the campaign to create a better publicly owned and properly funded transport system.

Business continued as normal yesterday, with people still finding their way into the city centre despite the stoppages. The Small Firms Association and other business leaders had condemned the strike, with predictable gloomy predictions that businesses would lose up to §10 million as a result of people stirring clear of town because of lack of transport or to avoid the protest. The same accusation was levelled at the protesting farmers last week, who were also forced to take to the streets to bring attention to problems in their industry.

It is believed that there will be more transport strikes in the next few weeks if the minister does not seriously address the concerns of the NBRU and SIPTU.