Staff at Bus Éireann who are members of the National Bus and Rail Union (NBRU) are to ballot for industrial action amid fears over a forthcoming strategic plan for the Expressway inter-regional coach service being drawn up by the company.
The chairman of the State-owned transport company Aidan Murphy told the union in a letter in recent days it was continuing to examine ways in which to reduce its costs "so as to deliver the profitability necessary to secure a viable future for Expressway".
“This will include marketing, fleet investment, innovation in routing and serving together with creating an efficient and cost effective cost model”.
“The matter was discussed at the recent Bus Éireann board meeting and the management team have been tasked to bring a comprehensive strategic plan for Expressway to the board as quickly as possible and to keep the board approased of progress.”
NBRU general secretary Dermot O’Leary said the union was concerns the new plan would be detrimental to members in the company. The union believes the plan will be announced after the general election.
The union represents about 1,200 staff in the company, mainly drivers.
The ballot for industrial action up to and including strikes is expected to get under way as early as next week.
In effect it will be a “contingency ballot” with any mandate for industrial action being held in reserve pending the publication of the company’s strategic plan for the Expressway service .
In his letter to the union Mr Murphy said the commercial operating landscape for Expressway had changed as additional operator licences continued to be issued .
“The result is that the ability of Bus Éireann to grow revenue has become significantly more challenging on its commercial Expressway routes.
“Despite a very significant investment in both marketing and new fleet, we have encountered tremendous competitiveness pressures which we must continue to combat.”
“Competition in the inter-city market has increased, with many more operators on the roads, which poses a considerable difficulty for the Expressway business.”
Mr Murphy said that the Expressway service broke even in 2014 but that despite savings achieved in some areas loses were anticipated this year.
He said the strike at the company last May over potential privatisation of routes had had a serious impact on its profitability, from which the company had not yet recovered.
In a replying letter this week Mr O’Leary said: “Our members are not prepared to stand idly by and watch the dismantling of this network. They are not going to allow a scenario to develop whereby an announcement suddenly drops from the sky, most likely post election, that will have us all scurrying around engaging in a rear-guard fire fighting exercise.”
“The uncertainty created by this company inflicted vacuum has now left the NBRU with no option but to consult with our members and seek a mandate for industrial action up to and including strike in the event that Bus Éireann will move to change the current Expressway model without prior consultation an the ultimate agreement of its staff.”
