Never take anything on with a semi
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They should work for the going rate.
There’s plenty of other companies operating the same routes profitably.
That’s not answering the question.
The staff want to maintain pay and the great overtime rates.
The costs are simple too high. “We pay for the service already” is irrelevant. The State subvention can’t pay for lots of frills.
BE pay a higher % of their revenue (nearly 5%) on payroll than Air Coach for example, but what is also hidden is that BE use contractors to service lots of school routes. That decreases their staff costs significantly and puts them as contractors rather than employees on the books.
If bus drivers get their way can we expect similar levels of incompetence from them as the guards have shown since their payrise?
Air coach pay their employees such poor wages that most of the drivers with family qualify for an additional income from welfare services. Isn’t that the same as subvention ?
If they got a decent wage they’d be contributing to the state instead of drawing from resources.
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Union to the core 
Aircoach paid drivers an average of 39k last year. Citylink slightly lower.
That is above the average wage.
Bus Eireann pays substantially more, and has hidden contractors expenses which artificially lowers the figures in their accounts. There are over 1000 contracted companies for schools runs, with in excess of that drivers employed by the same. That is keeping wages off the P&L of Bus Eireann. Hence why school runs aren’t affected tomorrow. BE pays
You aren’t protecting lower wages workers by supporting the union.
The state should subsidise services, not the companies. Put public service routes out to tender and pick preferred provider across a range of metrics including cost.
Anything else is just a sop - should the state subsidise all companies that pay their staff less than BE?
I heard something on a radio programme the other day that apparently it’s not the public service element of BE’s service that’s the major drain anyway, it’s the commercial routes. The state has no business competing on those routes at a cost to the taxpayer just because it used too.
It’s never about protecting lower wage workers - unions are always about protecting the cosseted few inside the tent.
Bus Eireann already sub licences some of these routes to private operators. Basically taking some of the government subvention, creating an admin cost and funnelling it on. It’s hiding the true labour costs of their revenue.
Privatisation is an aggresive FG policy,
Lads who are on here all day everyday have been warned.
cc @myboyblue
In fairness to bus eireann they allowed competition only on the most profitable routes meaning the few places bus eireann was making money they were under cut.
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They’re a public run transport company pal.
Our high taxes should be covering that.
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Yeah. Let’s privatise all the services that the state provide. Didn’t that work well with the waste collection and only for the protests Irish water would have turned out the same way as the refuse collection.
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I.e. the race to the bottom
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The blueshirts want to sell off a chunk of AIB now to pay off the German banks sure…even though its profitable and giving 250m a year to the Irish taxpayer.
You couldnt make it up.
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At least Varadker is honest about it.
Some people want the country to be improvised and work for a pittance while the likes of Dinny o Brine get richer off of the backs of those working on a pittance.
Why the disdain for working man that’s trying to improve his lot.
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The era of the blueshirt protestant landowner/landlord is well under way.
FG dont represent anyone other then the elite…they never have.
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