BUS ÉIREANN HAS said it will meet with drivers to address a pay claim ‘in due course’.
The National Bus and Rail Union has written to the company requesting a meeting over a ‘unprecedented’ seven-year hiatus in pay awards.
General secretary Dermot O’Leary said that following news that the company had achieved a ‘significant turnaround’ last year, the contribution of NBRU workers to this recovery “cannot be underestimated or ignored”.
Across its services, the company carried over one million extra passengers in 2014, compared to the previous 12 months, and passenger journey numbers jumped by almost 7% in regional cities.
O’Leary welcomed comments from Bus Éireann CEO Martin Nolan on the company’s outlook.
It is indeed encouraging to see the chief executive cheerleading on behalf of all staff at Bus Éireann with a regard to a positive future, replacing the doom and gloom which had heretofore permeated throughout the company over the last number of years.
However, workers are now turning their attention to pay rises.
An agreement reached on this in May 2013 following two days of strike action expired on 1st Janaury.
Management at Bus Éireann sought €5 million in cost-saving measures.
A spokesperson for the company a meeting will take place in due course, adding that:
“All the terms and conditions affected by this – which did not include core pay – were restored on January 1 2015.”
This restoration will add significantly to the company’s cost base, and therefore we are not currently in a position to sustain pay increases.
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