A no strike clause or the sack for train drivers?

[patslatt]

Dublin train commuters have suffered disruptions to train services for months,including today's major cancellation of trains. Drivers say they don't wish to work voluntary overtime up to a 48 hour week. That sounds reasonable except that the service traditionally depended on overtime, for generations drivers accepted that and training of additional drivers can't be done overnight. Besides,if the dispute is resolved,the drivers would probably be back with major pay demands to offset the loss of overtime pay,threatening strikes.

Ianrod Eireann has worked through the Labour Court and with the NBRU union in recent months to resolve the situation,but that hasn't stopped the drivers from behaving like spoilt brats and inflicting enormous and disproportionate inconvenience on the commuting public. Why are disruptions occuring against union leadership's wishes apparently? Could there be a nod and a wink?

Ianrod Eireann should demand a no strike clause during pay contract periods in its next pay negotiations so that the Irish public can enjoy a service free of these unconscionable disruptions. It should have the bottle to stand up to the drivers, who tend to behave like old fashioned Bolshie revolutionaries. If they strike,they should be sacked and replaced,which shouldn't be too difficult given the small number of them. They have no public sympathy since their disruptions have angered the long suffering Irish public. Replacement drivers on highly paid contract from the UK or Europe could take over until a new set of unBolshie drivers is recruited and trained.

Would the Taoiseach,a former union leader,undermine Ianrod Eireann's negotiating demand for a no strike clause?

[Pauli]

An Taoiseach? A former union leader?? Really???

[Leveller on the Liffey]

And he was one of only three socialists in the Dáil, remember.

[The SR]

An Taoiseach? A former union leader?? Really???

It was a passable effort at wind up until then.

I like the idea of Iarnroid Eireann bringing in scabs on highly paid contracts as a cost cutting measure!

[patslatt]

An Taoiseach? A former union leader?? Really???

It was a passable effort at wind up until then.

I like the idea of Iarnroid Eireann bringing in scabs on highly paid contracts as a cost cutting measure!

Scabs is an emotive word,harking back to the days of oppressive working conditions for an impoverished working class. The working class of Jim Larkin's General Strike were about as far removed from arististocracy as from our contemporary public sector workers in essential industries. Like the plant operatives in the ESB gas fired plants who earn €130,000 a year,the train drivers ruthlessly exploit their ability to inflict wholly disproportionate inconvenience and hardship on the public using disruptive guerilla tactics. If Ianrod Eireann fights to defend the public against these sploilt brat drivers by using replacement workers,I think most of the Irish public would cheer.

[politicaldonations]

Sack the semi state Leeches. They are on the public sector gravy train being driven by Bertie and Co.

[hiding behind a poster]

Ianrod Eireann should demand a no strike clause during pay contract periods in its next pay negotiations so that the Irish public can enjoy a service free of these unconscionable disruptions.

So what course of action will be open to staff if their grievances aren't being addressed by management? What if management simply refuse to negotiate on anything, knowing the staff can't strike? What will be given to staff in return for a no-strike clause, in order to address such concerns?

And in terms of the initial post - since when could choosing not to do something that's voluntary be classed as "industrial action"?

[Bom]

Scabs is an emotive word,harking back to the days of oppressive working conditions for an impoverished working class. The working class of Jim Larkin's General Strike were about as far removed from arististocracy as from our contemporary public sector workers in essential industries. Like the plant operatives in the ESB gas fired plants who earn €130,000 a year,the train drivers ruthlessly exploit their ability to inflict wholly disproportionate inconvenience and hardship on the public using disruptive guerilla tactics. If Ianrod Eireann fights to defend the public against these sploilt brat drivers by using replacement workers,I think most of the Irish public would cheer.

....yes, I agree, 'scabs' can be an emotive word.

[NotDevsSon]

Dublin train commuters have suffered disruptions to train services for months,including today's major cancellation of trains. Drivers say they don't wish to work voluntary overtime up to a 48 hour week. That sounds reasonable except that the service traditionally depended on overtime, for generations drivers accepted that and training of additional drivers can't be done overnight. Besides,if the dispute is resolved,the drivers would probably be back with major pay demands to offset the loss of overtime pay,threatening strikes.

Ianrod Eireann has worked through the Labour Court and with the NBRU union in recent months to resolve the situation,but that hasn't stopped the drivers from behaving like spoilt brats and inflicting enormous and disproportionate inconvenience on the commuting public. Why are disruptions occuring against union leadership's wishes apparently? Could there be a nod and a wink?

Ianrod Eireann should demand a no strike clause during pay contract periods in its next pay negotiations so that the Irish public can enjoy a service free of these unconscionable disruptions. It should have the bottle to stand up to the drivers, who tend to behave like old fashioned Bolshie revolutionaries. If they strike,they should be sacked and replaced,which shouldn't be too difficult given the small number of them. They have no public sympathy since their disruptions have angered the long suffering Irish public. Replacement drivers on highly paid contract from the UK or Europe could take over until a new set of unBolshie drivers is recruited and trained.

Would the Taoiseach,a former union leader,undermine Ianrod Eireann's negotiating demand for a no strike clause?

So, in plain English, the company refused to hire enough staff to do a job, and relied on demanding that the staff do large amounts of overtime. Given the safety concerns involved in transport, staff should NOT be doing high levels of overtime because the more tired they are the greater the risk of causing someone's death in an accident. So eventually the staff told the company 'we have had enough of this. If you want to increase the train numbers, hire staff for them. Stop covering your asses by demanding the current staff fill the gaps with large overtime'. The company didn't. The staff said 'today is my day off and it will remain my day off. If there aren't enough staff to run the trains that is your cock-up'.

And so, in the weird world of patslatt (who seems to be the representative of this site, given how he wants less regulation, more development, more high rise, more tax breaks for business, etc) it is the STAFF's fault because the MANAGEMENT cock-up. And the staff should be banned from striking to protect incompetent management.

BTW there was no strike today. People on holidays simply refused to abandon their holidays to get the management out of a pickle. I am off today also. Should I also be subject to a no-strike clause for daring to take the holiday my management agreed to? (BTW if my manager today has asked me to go in, saying they were stuck, I would have. But if every day I had off he called saying 'will you cover for someone?' eventually I would say 'no. Hire more staff. Stop using me to cover your failure to get more staff.' )

[The SR]

NDS wrote exactly what I was going to.

This is not a strike, there was no dispute today. There are just not enough train drivers to operate the system and clearly management were unable to rustle up enough emergency cover die to people being away, enjoying the long weekend etc. Blame is squarely at the door of Iarnroid Eireann management.

Like everything in the public sector, the malaise is at the top. But its easier to 'blame' the ordinary saps who simply took their day off rather than disfunctional managers who play golf with the FF guys.