Bus Eireann strike - services have resumed (Read first post)

TiGeR KiNgS

IS THIS STRIKE SET FOR MONDAY I.E TOMORROW ?

need answer asap please

gbob

devnull wrote: »

I was just quoting the given example, if someone is losing 10k then they have to be coming down from quite high up as those cuts are only impacting non basic wages, and even the extras would only be cut by 20-30%

That particular driver is on the lowest scale and he would rely on overtime, shift and sunday premium, exactly what is being cut. If they go his basic is considerably less than the 33k quoted.

gbob

TiGeR KiNgS wrote: »

IS THIS STRIKE SET FOR MONDAY I.E TOMORROW ?

need answer asap please

Sorry but its set to continue indefinitely.

devnull

gbob wrote: »

That particular driver is on the lowest scale and he would rely on overtime, shift and sunday premium, exactly what is being cut. If they go his basic is considerably less than the 33k quoted.

But he must be earning a good bit more than 10k in those premiums, overtime and extras since they are not being got rid of they are being cut.

If they are being cut by 50%, that means he was earning another 10k from them on top of his basic pay, Even at 33% cut to all allowances across the board, he'd be getting 30k on top of his basic before cut and 20k after it.

ressem

The last annual report (2011) says that the cost of providing the PSO services exceeded their audited value by 3.5 million.

That makes it a subsidy that the government have to justify to others.

They have gone from 2296 to 2103 full time staff, and there's 7 million less being paid to external contractors.

The problem isn't so much fuel cost, more the drop in passenger numbers.
Costs to paying customers have jumped a lot over the last 5 years, and the city services are major lossmakers.
The unions are just hoping that this deficit can just be put on the passengers and school ticket price. (The NBRU comments about using the reserves are a smokescreen for this.)

Annual Report 2011, page 38 wrote:

Costs for Expressway, Stage Carriage and City Services are allocated on the basis of metrics derived from prior period data, independent studies of Bus Éireann operations, numbers of buses and mileage.

The cost of PSO operations amounted to €39.88m in 2011 while the compensation received amounted to €43.40m.

gbob

devnull wrote: »

But he must be earning a good bit more than 10k in those premiums, overtime and extras since they are not being got rid of they are being cut.

If they are being cut by 50%, that means he was earning another 10k from them on top of his basic pay, Even at 33% cut to all allowances across the board, he'd be getting 30k on top of his basic before cut and 20k after it.

I agree completely with your maths but the full details of these proposed cuts are not in the public domain. There are a certain group of drivers who will loose almost all premium payments. Those are the lowest paid at present and will loose the most with these cuts.

I realise that's a bit vague but I'm not sure how much detail I can go into.

devnull

But the Labour Court judgement has been published and is on their website, it lists what Bus Eireann recommended, the disputed points by the unions, and what was recommended by the court.

See here:http://www.labourcourt.ie/labour/labcourtweb.nsf/185190278967d05380256a01005bb35e/80256a770034a2ab80257b0900428efa?OpenDocument

The problem with people with low basic but high premiums and allowances and people with higher basic but lower premiums is always going to be tough to deal with, since whatever you cut, some group of people is always going to be worse off than others, particularly when there are several grades of basic pay as you outline.

For example, if you cut someone on the higher end basic pay to allow others people with lower basic pay to keep their premium, the former are going to be unhappy that their basic pay is being cut when the basic pay of others is being left alone, just as now you have people who rely on allowances on lower pay unhappy that they stand more to lose than those who are on higher pay and rely little on allowances.

If you can say, out of my curiosity, how much is the difference between the lowest and highest basic pay rates in Bus Eireann and what governs who gets what rate? it is defined on location, years of service or what?

Victor

cdebru wrote: »

Actually total revenue was 56.6 billion and total expenditure was 68.8 billion in 2012 of which almost 6 billion was in interest payments ( look up rewarding failure). But it was a gap 12.2 billion not 20 billion so I just saved us 7.8 billion given your cribbing about 5 million you would think you wouldn't let 7.8 billion slip past you but you did.

On topic please. Read the first post.

SandyfordGuy wrote: »

zzzzzzzz more politics.

If you have a problem with a post, report it.

Moderator

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Laviski wrote: »

bus drivers making more than 40k a year? get real and be thankful first for having a job and second for getting that much money to drive a bus. People in the haulage business would only dream to get that much a year and they have worse conditions than yourselves.

Get Real and get back to work.

---

their basic is just over 30k and if they do shift work, sunday, public holidays that can push the majority up to 45k a year.

Are you contradicting your self?

gbob wrote: »

Nobody is claiming they are underpaid, they are saying the same as everyone else that they can't afford another pay cut while executives and management are not subject to the same cuts as they are.

How does the income of a manager affect the ability of a worker to live on a specific wage?

The basic wage for a BE driver on the top scale is around 33k gross. There are many that dont do overtime or get shift allowances or work sundays and would earn very little over the basic. That is a fact, those people can not afford cuts.

So surely, these people aren't actually going to suffer all that much then? They can't lose what they don't have.

Simple as that. One man has told me if the cuts go through he will loose 10k pa and will be better off on the dole. And you'll get your wish.

So he is getting more than €10,000 (perhaps €12,000 if you account for the tax wedge) in Sunday premiums and overtime?

TiGeR KiNgS wrote: »

IS THIS STRIKE SET FOR MONDAY I.E TOMORROW ?

need answer asap please

Take it that you can't rely on Bus Éireann services for the next few days.

doubletrouble?

A few points. If the cuts do come in it's possible some drivers and their families could loose their homes. Next thing is someone brought up s/w payments. What they left out was housing benefits and things like that. When these are added then the s/w payments increase significantly.
Again someone mentioned politics being brought into the subject. This has a huge role here. The government cant afford the €5m so they say but yet the expenses t.d.'s can claim is mind boggling. some of them can claim expenses that far exceed what the average bus driver earns in a year before any deductions from their pay packet. You actually had one t.d. That had free travel due to a pensioners pass and yet they were able to claim travel expenses because they commuted by train. Most if us dont get any sort of allowances. So yeah politics does have big part to play in this thread.

gbob

devnull wrote: »

But the Labour Court judgement has been published and is on their website, it lists what Bus Eireann recommended, the disputed points by the unions, and what was recommended by the court.

See here:http://www.labourcourt.ie/labour/labcourtweb.nsf/185190278967d05380256a01005bb35e/80256a770034a2ab80257b0900428efa?OpenDocument

The problem with people with low basic but high premiums and allowances and people with higher basic but lower premiums is always going to be tough to deal with, since whatever you cut, some group of people is always going to be worse off than others, particularly when there are several grades of basic pay as you outline.

For example, if you cut someone on the higher end basic pay to allow others people with lower basic pay to keep their premium, the former are going to be unhappy that their basic pay is being cut when the basic pay of others is being left alone, just as now you have people who rely on allowances on lower pay unhappy that they stand more to lose than those who are on higher pay and rely little on allowances.

And unfortunately there seems to be no mention of a considerable pay gap for new employees, those that are currently temporary will, when appointed start with far lower premium payments and and on a lower scale than what they're on now. Hence the loss of almost all premiums.

Victor

doubletrouble? wrote: »

Again someone mentioned politics being brought into the subject. This has a huge role here. The government cant afford the €5m so they say but yet the expenses t.d.'s can claim is mind boggling. some of them can claim expenses that far exceed what the average bus driver earns in a year before any deductions from their pay packet. You actually had one t.d. That had free travel due to a pensioners pass and yet they were able to claim travel expenses because they commuted by train. Most if us dont get any sort of allowances. So yeah politics does have big part to play in this thread.

That sounds disturbing, but is off-topic. Please stay on topic.

Moderator

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gbob wrote: »

And unfortunately there seems to be no mention of a considerable pay gap for new employees, those that are currently temporary will, when appointed start with far lower premium payments and and on a lower scale than what they're on now. Hence the loss of almost all premiums.

If they are new (why are there new employees if there has been a redundancy programme?) then they have never had these allowances and so are losing nothing.

ressem

Recommendation
The Court Recommends as follows: -

· No change to Sunday bonus for employees rostered for normal duty on Sunday (Double time for basic day)

· Overtime currently paid at double time on Sundays be paid at 1.5 times

· Public Holidays be paid at 1.25 times plus statutory entitlements for a basic day

· All overtime on Public Holidays that was paid at double time to be paid at 1.25 times for the first two hours and at 1.5 times thereafter (overtime and rest days worked)

Recommendation
The Court recommends that these expense payments and allowances by reduced by 20%

· Equalisation allowance
· Meal allowance
· Overnight Allowance
· Outbased Allowance

Recommendation
The Court recommends that the shift payment of 1/6th be reduced to 1/7th and all other shift payments be reduced pro rata.

In line with the Company’s proposal if the financial situation improves significantly this will be reviewed in 2014 with a view to restoring the shift rates to current levels

How are these cuts resulting in 10K per year for a low paid driver?
The big savings are the temporary reduction in holiday and uncertified days, that will cut payments to contractors and other staff.

As for gbob's suggestion earlier of a €1 euro per week for OAPs travel pass, it'd be subtracted from the PSO grant.

If this strike results in 2% of paying expressway customers pemanently changing to citylink etc, the cuts will have to be repeated.

gbob

There are temporary drivers at all depots hoping to become permanent, they would be paid the same premium payments as appointed drivers right now, but if these cuts go through and they then become permanent they company want to put them on a different pay and premium rates.

As for why BE have so many temps? Well they obviously want them to remain temporary until this lower pay scale is implemented.

Hilly Bill

Just a quick question to any BE staff on here. What did the NBRU officials say about the Labour court recommendation? Did they tell the members to accept it ? Did the members vote against the union forcing the union to fight their corner.

From what i can see , the recommendation isnt too bad and could have been worse and maybe taking the hit might be the best option considering ...




"In line with the Company’s proposal if the financial situation improves significantly this will be reviewed in 2014 with a view to restoring the shift rates to current levels"

Hank Scorpio

horrible timing for students, have an exam on Tuesday and no idea how I'm going to get there

Trampas

On allowances how much is it costing each one?

On meal allowance is it a case of a driver due a break in edenderry gets whatever it is so he can go to a coffee shop and buy a tea and roll?

If it is then the unions should be using this as a money savings suggestion as the drivers could bring a flask and sambo to work like a lot of workers.

padrageous

I bought tickets back to Longford online from Dublin Airport Friday. Anyone know any private operators doing a Dublin - Longford route? Am I eligible for a refund or can the ticket be used on trains?

Itssoeasy

A union boss was on morning Ireland there and mentioned there was €70M in CIE that could be used and when Rachel English pushed him he had no idea how it could be accessed. Typical crap. How does he know about it exactly ?

deRanged

the bus station in Cork this morning:


Strike on here! by Brian Clayton, on Flickr

Itssoeasy

deRanged wrote: »

the bus station in Cork this morning:


Strike on here! by Brian Clayton, on Flickr

Buses or no buses it's still a dump of a building.

STForSale

padrageous wrote: »

I bought tickets back to Longford online from Dublin Airport Friday. Anyone know any private operators doing a Dublin - Longford route? Am I eligible for a refund or can the ticket be used on trains?

I have a taxsaver and had to fork out €11 for the train this morning.
IE defenitely not honouring bus tickets.
Anyone know the procedure to claim a refund?

Kumsheen

ressem wrote: »

Recommendation
The Court Recommends as follows: -

· No change to Sunday bonus for employees rostered for normal duty on Sunday (Double time for basic day)

· Overtime currently paid at double time on Sundays be paid at 1.5 times

· Public Holidays be paid at 1.25 times plus statutory entitlements for a basic day

· All overtime on Public Holidays that was paid at double time to be paid at 1.25 times for the first two hours and at 1.5 times thereafter (overtime and rest days worked)

Recommendation
The Court recommends that these expense payments and allowances by reduced by 20%

· Equalisation allowance
· Meal allowance
· Overnight Allowance
· Outbased Allowance

Recommendation
The Court recommends that the shift payment of 1/6th be reduced to 1/7th and all other shift payments be reduced pro rata.

In line with the Company’s proposal if the financial situation improves significantly this will be reviewed in 2014 with a view to restoring the shift rates to current levels.

I have to say i had sympathy for the Bus drivers until i saw these details of the Labour Court recommendation posted here, they don't seem too excessive, and the drivers will still maintain a lot of allowances and shift premiums after this.

On the other hand i think other costs in BE such as expensive marketing and advertising campaigns have probably contributed in a big way to the losses at BE.
This company should really concentrate on providing an efficient and reliable PSO service, and stop using taxpayer funding to compete with private operators who will always have a lower cost structure than BE.

Perhaps the Unions are using this dispute as a guinea pig in the wider context of looming public sector disputes, to test the water and see if the government eventually capitulates.

ixoy

For those drivers involved here - what would be an acceptable outcome? Assuming that there's a recognition that some cuts have to be made in the company what would you do?
I think most would agree something has to go somewhere within the company but the current bone of contention is that it affects shift workers more.

Related to the above, the NRBU had wants "intervention" without disclosing what it is. Given that Bus Eireann management are - so we're told - open for talks, what is this intervention?

Can I ask is the touted 3k reduction in wages a net or gross wage loss?

devnull

What I heard the unions say over the weekend is the union are happy to talk but they will not accept any cuts and when asked to come up with alternatives, they said that was not going to happen either.

I believe they are waiting for some intervention along the lines of the parent company bailing Bus Eireann out, or the government giving the company extra money from what I have heard.

currins_02

Just to clarify something mentioned away earlier in the thread, the Donegal services running are absolutely nothing to do with McGinley Coaches or John McGinley Coaches in any way. These are services operated by McGeehan Coaches of Fintown, Co Donegal. McGeehan sold their services a number of years back to BE and entered a partnership whereby McGeehan's were then contracted to operate many of those services for a prolonged period of time. All revenue goes to BE, the services operate with BE wayfarers on all buses, BE tickets are accepted, tickets may be bought on line, the services have BE service numbers etc. All the services operating in Donegal running yesterday, today and beyond are BUS EIREANN services but they are operated in full on a rolling contract by vehicles and staff from McGeehan coaches, as they have been for years, who are not subject to the action, not union members and in many cases the services are socially essential.

Also, as a coach driver I can tell you that McGeehan's run immaculate stock and have a name as being excellent employers with good pay and conditions. They have a very a very low staff turnover and if/when a vacancy arises they are highly desirable.

I have no connection to and have have not worked for McGeehans. If a job did come up that suited me (I'm not based in Donegal so hardly likely!) I would apply like a hot snot based on the reputation the company has.

devnull

According to a tweet on Twitter, GoBE Services are being disrupted by strikers:
https://twitter.com/ronanbagnall/status/333879220516298754

LeinsterDub

What are Equalisation allowance and Outbased Allowance ?

ixoy

devnull wrote: »

What I heard the unions say over the weekend is the union are happy to talk but they will not accept any cuts and when asked to come up with alternatives, they said that was not going to happen either.

So what are they going to talk about? I'm confused by their stance on this - surely it's in the unions interest to try and at least find some sort of common middle ground. It's in the interest of their own members that the company doesn't go bust.

bk

devnull wrote: »

According to a tweet on Twitter, GoBE Services are being disrupted by strikers:
https://twitter.com/ronanbagnall/status/333879220516298754

I assume the Gardai were called and they were cleared from a public road?

homerjay2005

Payroll costs of €266million in 2010 and 2011 combined, yet one of the most overpaid workforces in the world goes on strike when cuts come in?

absolutely disgraceful, Unions are constantly holding this country to randsom and its about time somebody stood up to them, sadly it will never happen.

hope they are docked wages for the strikes also. privatising all these companies is the only way to go, enough is enough.

Sierra Oscar

devnull wrote: »

According to a tweet on Twitter, GoBE Services are being disrupted by strikers:
https://twitter.com/ronanbagnall/status/333879220516298754

That is not all that surprising considering Bus Éireann are involved in the operation of GoBe.

devnull wrote: »

What I heard the unions say over the weekend is the union are happy to talk but they will not accept any cuts and when asked to come up with alternatives, they said that was not going to happen either.

In fairness, the NBRU have been on the airwaves all morning saying that they are willing to negotiate without any preconditions. Management however have been reluctant to agree to negotiations without preconditions, and have made it clear that they are under pressure from 'outside' sources not to cave in. Meaningful talks wont get under way until the preconditions are done away with, that is a basic principle when it comes to resolving industrial disputes.

Also, it is not the job of the union to come up with detailed cost alternatives. They are not management, and do not have access to the information that management do have access to regarding the operation of the company. They would be going beyond their remit if they started demanding in detail as to how every aspect of the company should be run. Also, there is more than one union than NBRU representing Bus Éireann workers. This idea of the union having to come up with a detailed comprehensive business plan is just a sound byte, and management know it cannot occur. They can make suggestions of course, but expecting the union to come up with a complete business plan is just absurd.

devnull

Sierra Oscar wrote: »

Considering Bus Éireann are involved in the operation of GoBe.

They're not involved in the operation very much at all - all it is really is a co-branding agreement and cross marketing agreement between the two companies with BE likely to have put some money in and an agreement for BE to allow GoBus to use their facilities for the route.

The vehicles are being run by GoBus (leased from Bernard Kavanagh)
The drivers are employed by Bernard Kavanagh
The vehicles are stored in a depot owned by Bernard Kavanagh
The Route license holder is GoBus

In fairness, the NBRU have been on the airwaves all morning saying that they are willing to negotiate without any preconditions. Management however have been reluctant to agree to negotiations without preconditions,

Earlier in the weekend they stated that they would not accept any cuts but they were prepared to talk. If their position has changed however that is to be welcomed and hopefully it will shift this along some more.

This idea of the union having to come up with a detailed comprehensive business plan is just a sound byte, and management know it cannot occur. They can make suggestions of course, but expecting the union to come up with a complete business plan is just absurd.

Of course for them to come up with a business plan isn't realistic at all so I agree with you on that, Iw as more talking about realistic suggestions.

Problem123456

How long is this expected to go on for?

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

devnull

More on the GoBe Situation:
http://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/ireland/bus-eireann-strike-escalates-in-cork-594237.html

How can they be strike breaking? None of the staff driving the vehicles work for Bus Eireann so they couldn't go on strike anyway.

Needless to say none of this will help the company, since it'll be a few more passengers now who will consider switching to Aircoach, it's completely counter productive.

bk

Sierra Oscar wrote: »

That is not all that surprising considering Bus Éireann are involved in the operation of GoBe.

Nope:

- GoBE is fully owned by GoBus/Evobus
- The route license is fully held by GoBus/Evobus
- The coaches are owned by Bernard Kavangh coaches and operated under contract from GoBus
- The drivers all work for Bernard Kavanagh
- The coaches are operated out of a private depot (not BE).

GoBus has an arrangement with BE to use BE bus stations, co-brand the service and do some marketing on the BE website.

Given that the GoBus drivers these BE drivers are trying to block from earning a wage are probably on much less wages and inferior conditions to the BE drivers, this is pretty sickening carry on and certainly won't gain the BE drivers any sympathy from the public.

I assume that they aren't actually blocking the service from leaving and being used, as to do so would be illegal on a public road and footpath. I assume it is just a publicity stunt, they can stand there and protest, but can't stop it from operating.

devnull

GoBe are now going to move their services from Cork to Dublin to right next to the Aircoach and Citylink stop on Patrick's Quay now as a response to this.

That'll be interesting for several reasons.

Victor

Sierra Oscar wrote: »

Also, it is not the job of the union to come up with detailed cost alternatives. They are not management, and do not have access to the information that management do have access to regarding the operation of the company. They would be going beyond their remit if they started demanding in detail as to how every aspect of the company should be run. Also, there is more than one union than NBRU representing Bus Éireann workers. This idea of the union having to come up with a detailed comprehensive business plan is just a sound byte, and management know it cannot occur. They can make suggestions of course, but expecting the union to come up with a complete business plan is just absurd.

I don't think anyone is expecting them to run the company. However, staff are often aware of places where savings can be made.

devnull wrote: »

GoBe are now going to move their services from Cork to Dublin to right next to the Aircoach and Citylink stop on Patrick's Quay now as a response to this.

That'll be interesting for several reasons.

That has been happening since yesterday.

bk

I wonder what effect this will have on the future relationship between BE and GoBus.

Will this end up breaking the contract between GoBus and BE? Maybe GoBus will switch to operating from these stops permanently.

devnull

Victor wrote: »

That has been happening since yesterday.

Really? the bus that was blocked earlier was at Merchants Quay, and GoBus were saying up to 15 minutes ago that they were still operating from there, but now they're saying they're moving everything.

This is certainly Merchants Quay:
http://cf.broadsheet.ie/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Gobe2.jpg

musicinmouth

If anyone is stranded, Cork company Avego (www.avego.com) is helping people to organize lifts in real time.

Victor

devnull wrote: »

Really? the bus that was blocked earlier was at Merchants Quay, and GoBus were saying up to 15 minutes ago that they were still operating from there, but now they're saying they're moving everything.

This is certainly Merchants Quay:
http://cf.broadsheet.ie/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Gobe2.jpg

Sorry, yes you are right.

To correct what I said, they haven't been operating from the bus station since yesterday.

Kumsheen

Sierra Oscar wrote: »

That is not all that surprising considering Bus Éireann are involved in the operation of GoBe.



In fairness, the NBRU have been on the airwaves all morning saying that they are willing to negotiate without any preconditions. Management however have been reluctant to agree to negotiations without preconditions, and have made it clear that they are under pressure from 'outside' sources not to cave in. Meaningful talks wont get under way until the preconditions are done away with, that is a basic principle when it comes to resolving industrial disputes.

Also, it is not the job of the union to come up with detailed cost alternatives. They are not management, and do not have access to the information that management do have access to regarding the operation of the company. They would be going beyond their remit if they started demanding in detail as to how every aspect of the company should be run. Also, there is more than one union than NBRU representing Bus Éireann workers. This idea of the union having to come up with a detailed comprehensive business plan is just a sound byte, and management know it cannot occur. They can make suggestions of course, but expecting the union to come up with a complete business plan is just absurd.

I think the negotiations have gone on long enough and it's impossible to be resolved between BE and the unions themselves. It's probably better just to bring this to a head once and for all and be done with it..

It's really now down to either increased funding or cuts, and the ball is really in the government's court rather than with BE management.

The union is gambling on government intervention to resolve this. My prediction is that the govt will partially give in and we will see some watered down version of cuts eventually agreed.
But the long term effects of this dispute will probably see the govt expedite the opening up more and more bus licenses to private operators, and gradually shrink BE more and more.

Anybody else have any predictions on the final outcome?

n97 mini

Kumsheen wrote: »

Anybody else have any predictions on the final outcome?

Capitulation by the company or the govt. Did any dispute involving a semi state or public sector ever end any other way?

Kumsheen

n97 mini wrote: »

Capitulation by the company or the govt. Did any dispute involving a semi state or public sector ever end any other way?

I can't think of any myself.

P_1

Bad move PR wise by the drivers blocking in the GoBus bus. I can't see the general public having much sympathy to the drivers the longer this carries on

Victor

SandyfordGuy wrote: »

And this when the country is struggling and nurses and the Garda are being paid less. What a ****ing joke, the irony of these people going on about greed, what a bunch of ****ing hypocrites. Makes my blood boil,, hope the lot of you lose your jobs.

Tone it down and stay on topic.

Moderator

jimmycrackcorm

I don't think the government will give in, primarily because they are not linked hands on with BE si they can simply wash their hands of it and say it's up to BE to manage their finances. But also to give in would send a wrong message during the current Croke park round.

Why can't the unions accept that you get good conditions when things go well but when things aren't so good then you have to accept cuts?

kravmaga

homerjay2005 wrote: »

Payroll costs of €266million in 2010 and 2011 combined, yet one of the most overpaid workforces in the world goes on strike when cuts come in?

absolutely disgraceful, Unions are constantly holding this country to randsom and its about time somebody stood up to them, sadly it will never happen.

hope they are docked wages for the strikes also. privatising all these companies is the only way to go, enough is enough.

+1 Agree with you.
Some of the drivers are earning up to 47k pa and more on O/T and all these outdated allowances.
BE-Company is losing 200k a day whilst staff are out on strike.

BE has lost 27million Euro over the past 5 yrs??? CEO lives in Dubai apparently. That says it all.

Aircoach and any other private operator will gain business and a new customer base the longer the strike goes on.

Sounds like this is a lose lose situation for BE workers/Management.

NBRU was always a very militant union.

bk

Some interesting questions being asked in some quarters.

NTA actually own the licenses for the PSO routes and the buses used on these routes. If the strike goes on, could the NTA pull the licenses and buses off BE and hand them to a private operator to operate?

Even if this doesn't happen, this strike makes it much more likely that when the licenses go up for re-tendering in 2014, that they will lose at least some licenses to the private sector.

Rumour has it that some private companies had already applied for licenses to shadow the 109 route.

The private services to the likes of Cork, Limerick, Galway issued in the last year seem to have done well in blunting the impact of this strike and I wouldn't be at all surprised to see the government extend private operators to more routes in future.

Very bad move by the BE staff.