'Some drivers will soon be starving'
As talks continue today at the Workplace Relations Commission in an attempt to resolve the dispute at Bus Éireann, striking bus drivers in Cavan remain resolute but have expressed disappointment at the public reaction to the strike.

Eamonn Dowd has been a bus driver for 18 years. “There are people who want to get to the airport, hospitals and job interviews etc and the public have not rebelled against it at all. I can't understand that because, if a bus is 10 minutes late when we are in service, we get told off – eleven days has elapsed and there are no complaints,” he lamented when speaking to the Celt on the picket line earlier this week.
He was joined by his son Aaron who was there to lend moral support to the strikers.
'These men are out here on the line. These men will soon be starving if something is not done soon.Ӊ۬
The drivers are beginning to feel the financial strain of the strike, according to Eamonn. He reveals that they are getting €200 per week strike pay from their unions and those with mortgages and young families are under considerable pressure to meet their commitments.
Of his own circumstances, Eamonn said that he is helping to support his son Aaron who is studying in NUIG and his fees are due in September.
“The €40 a day from the union will hardly pay for food – what about mortgages and other bills?” asked Aaron who’s calling on the Minister for Transport, Shane Ross and the Government to intervene.
He also hit out at the Minister for Rural Affairs Heather Humphreys. “[She] has not come down once to these drivers. She is not sticking her neck out for the people who voted for her. I voted for her in the last election, so did this man here. She says she is too busy, yet these men are out here on the line – these men will soon be starving, if something is not done soon,” said Aaron.
“I am calling on this Fine Gael government and this Taoiseach to do something about it. They are leaving a rural transport system in the country at a standstill. The attitude of this government is – so long as Dublin is not affected, why should we care about rural Ireland?”
No progress
Eamonn feels that nothing has changed since workers went out on strike two weeks ago.
There is a chasm between the management and union estimations on the net impact of proposed cuts. Management are putting the cuts at 10% of wages, while the unions say they will effectively be 30% of their earnings, plus a change in working conditions. Currently, the drivers receive their basic pay, rota pay and shift pay and one driver explained that management is proposing to take away the rota and shift pay, which he claims amounts to 30% of their total pay.
“These proposals would put us back in the pre-1980 working conditions. Men have stood on picket lines and fought for these rights and now Mr Hernan [Ray, acting CEO] expects to walk in and do a Ryanair on them. Well, he has another think coming, we are here for the long haul.”
Meanwhile, responding to criticism, Minister Humphreys told this newspaper that she had spoken to a member of the union involved in the strike in Cavan. “While I fully support their right to strike, I explained that it would not be appropriate for me to visit the picket line on this occasion.
“While I do not think the Transport Minister should intervene with the taxpayers’ chequebook, I have impressed upon Minister Ross that this dispute is having a particularly harsh impact on rural communities. I have asked Minister Ross to urge the CIE board and other stakeholders to get back around the talks table as that is the only way this dispute will be resolved,” she said.
As talks continue at the WRC between both sides today, both SIPTU and the NBRU have said their members will continue to place pickets on bus stations across the country.
No agreement has been reached so far but sources say there is a very strong resolve not to leave the talks unless there is something substantial to vote on.