Bus Eireann Strike

Current Affairs
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They’re not entitled to it as they are not public sector-if they were they would be entitled to that entitlement.

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[quote=“Julio Geordio, post: 771679, member: 332”]Bus Eireann provides a lot of loss making routes though, that no private company will ever want to run.
Privatisation in the UK ended up costing them more every year.

That said it goes without saying that they all need a pay cut.

Irish Rail on the other hand have absolutley no excuse to be losing money apart from their own incompetence. I reckon you could turn Irish Rail into profit within a year if a competent person was in charge.[/quote]

Bus Eireann is getting an annual subsidy of €45 million a year for their “Public Interest” Routes. If the private sector was offered some of that I’d say they’d be pretty keen to get in on the act.

Companies like Aircoach have managed to build themselves up very successfully and quickly when given the opportunity. Much like Aer Lingus prior to Ryanair’s arrival, Bus Eireann is a flabby company that relied upon a monopolistic position and goverment support to dawdle along.

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Most lads on tfk thought maggie thatcher was a ferocious cunt altogether and that jim Larkin and James connolly are national heroes. They also think everything should be privatised and unions should be destroyed.

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Haha, very true.

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A slight difference between the 1913 lockout and the bus eireann strike infairness.

100 years of difference in fact

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[quote=“Julio Geordio, post: 771679, member: 332”]

Irish Rail on the other hand have absolutley no excuse to be losing money apart from their own incompetence. I reckon you could turn Irish Rail into profit within a year if a competent person was in charge.[/quote]

Ben Shermin.

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A la carte lefties.

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[quote=“tallback, post: 771658, member: 1158”]Bus Eireann is loss-making year on year despite getting a subsidy of about €45 million/year
Private bus companies are profit-making and looking to expand services where permitted.
Join the dots. Its just another bloated semi-state where workers have a sense of entitlement, think normal business rules don’t apply and are under the impression that the company is run for their benefit - not the paying public.[/quote]

I couldn’t have put it better myself. Sack the lot of them I say. Fat overpaid useless sanctimonious drivers.

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Buses are back running tomorrow

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Employers cannot carry on industry nor accumulate profits if they have not got the good will of the workers or their acquiescence in carrying on such industry.

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A stunning opening post:clap:

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Context Balbec, context. You right wing loon jobs are very good at this.

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There’s also a nice correlation between those who feel sorry for isolated rural communities who can’t drive home from the pub and those who want privatisation.

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The two aren’t mutually exclusive. The gov is already subsidising Bus Eireann. I’m sure if they put routes out to tender with a subsidy attached they’d get a great response.

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Employers can not carry on industry if they are running at a loss, no matter how militant the workers are or how big the company is.

Call it the “Waterford Crystal” effect …

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[quote=“tallback, post: 772019, member: 1158”]Employers can not carry on industry if they are running at a loss, no matter how militant the workers are or how big the company is.

Call it the “Waterford Crystal” effect …[/quote]
It’s a public service, not an industry. The employer is the State, they’re not subsidising anyone, they’re funding their own service.

The Oireachtas doesn’t make money. Should we shut it down? Or the Gardai? Or the National Museum?

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[quote=“Rocko, post: 772038, member: 1”]It’s a public service, not an industry. The employer is the State, they’re not subsidising anyone, they’re funding their own service.

The Oireachtas doesn’t make money. Should we shut it down? Or the Gardai? Or the National Museum?[/quote]

Strawmen.

Parts of the Bus Eireann service are a public service, parts are an industry. At the moment the bus service gets funded for the public service elements i.e. the non-profitable routes. They are not special buses or special drivers. There is no reason that a private company could not carry out this public service if it was subsidised to the same degree (or possibly less if it had a more efficient operation). Note, I’ve no issue with the state subsidising transport routes that would otherwise be untenable as a public service. My issue is when this subsidy is not used in the most efficient manner because ultimately it’s my taxes that are paying for it.

Your other examples are cherry-picked as strawmen. Obviously the oireachtas and state security forces can not be provided in any other way apart from directly publicly funded. However, what about the ESB and power generation, what about Aer Lingus when it had no competition etc, etc.

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[quote=“tallback, post: 772052, member: 1158”]Strawmen.

Parts of the Bus Eireann service are a public service, parts are an industry. At the moment the bus service gets funded for the public service elements i.e. the non-profitable routes. They are not special buses or special drivers. There is no reason that a private company could not carry out this public service if it was subsidised to the same degree (or possibly less if it had a more efficient operation). Note, I’ve no issue with the state subsidising transport routes that would otherwise be untenable as a public service. My issue is when this subsidy is not used in the most efficient manner because ultimately it’s my taxes that are paying for it.

Your other examples are cherry-picked as strawmen. Obviously the oireachtas and state security forces can not be provided in any other way apart from directly publicly funded. However, what about the ESB and power generation, what about Aer Lingus when it had no competition etc, etc.[/quote]
Most private bus companies don’t take travel passes. They have no interest in providing proper competition for unprofitable services, they want to cherry pick their routes, their times and their passengers.

The State doesn’t have great experience in saving costs by putting contracts out to tender: look at school prefabs as an example.

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Yeah, that’s it. Coughlan was/is a mad bastard.

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Private bus companies won’t take travel passes if they’re not recompensed for doing so or if its not part of their obligation and understandably they don’t want to take on unprofitable routes either. Maybe they would if offered some of the Bus Eireann subsidy though i.e. bundle a couple of good routes with low volume routes and include obligations to take passes, certain amount of services etc and tender it to all companies (incl Bus Eireann). Why can this not be done or at least trialled? Would Bus Eireann win these tenders?

At the moment Bus Eireann is loss-making and going out of business. There are several ways this can change:

[INDENT=1]- Increase their prices: Hard to do in the face of competition and likely to reduce their passenger volumes. Like airlines they need a high load factor so an increase in price would likely drive that down[/INDENT]
[INDENT=1]-Increase their passenger volumes: Unlikely in the face of increased competition etc[/INDENT]
[INDENT=1]- Reduce their cost base/Increase efficiency: This is what the strikes are about at the moment[/INDENT]
[INDENT=1]- Increased subsidy from the government: Probably what the unions ultimately want but politically unfeasible and is just a sop anyway[/INDENT]
[INDENT=1] [/INDENT]
What do you suggest they do?
[INDENT=1][/INDENT]