We knew this inconvenience would come but it's still shit: the Bus Eireann strike is happening today. It's already disrupted the mornings of hundreds of thousands of commuters today and is set to cause more chaos as the day goes on.
If you're not up to speed, the five unions representing 2,600 Bus Eireann staff announced the strike after management went ahead with implementing nearly 50 work-practice changes and efficiency measures.
Bus Éireann said the strike would cause major inconvenience to its customers “and exacerbate the perilous financial situation at the company”.
“To be clear, losses for January and February in 2017 are 41 per cent higher than for the same period last year - and losses in 2016 were €9.4million. The company is facing insolvency in a few short months and not acting to implement cost savings urgently would be completely irresponsible", the company said in a statement.
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The company said they couldn't postpone the costsaving measures any longer, and assured the staff the changes don't affect basic wages. But the unions reckon management is using a veil of secrecy to hide the fact they actually want to cut jobs.
Siptu said the true agenda of management was “to prepare the company for the future privatisation of public bus services”, reports the Irish Times.
Irish Rail services may also be affected by the strike because its staff will not cross picket lines at stations where their services are shared with Bus Éireann.
Here's all the main deets you need to know:
Irish Rail
- The Cork Commuter line, the Waterford to Limerick Junction route, Limerick to Galway and the Limerick to Ballybrophy routes have all been cancelled
- Limited services between Dublin and Cork, Limerick, Galway, Sligo and Waterford will continue
- Dart services are operating as normal
- Check out their Twitter for more specific route info
Bus Eireann
The majority of services are not operating from midnight tonight due to industrial action. See https://t.co/Z6VxNfNUsy for more information
— Bus Éireann (@Buseireann) March 23, 2017
We regret that GoBE services from Cork to Dublin will not operate
— Bus Éireann (@Buseireann) March 24, 2017
It is unclear when the strike will end but it could be longer than just today.
