Government plans to slash Dublin Bus services and jobs

Dublin Bus have announced to the trade unions that will sack 160 bus drivers and slash services on routes throughout the city from that date.

In addition workers in other grades including maintenance, cleaning, shunting and clerical will be sacked. In total 290 Dublin Bus workers are set to lose their jobs.

In many areas the impact on our bus service will be dramatic. For example around a quarter of the scheduled services on the 13/13A route will be scrapped along with similar cuts on the 19/19A route. The Finglas 40/A route will also be cut-back along with the 3 route serving Larkhill.

In addition to the sackings and cut backs, Dublin Bus workers will not be paid the rises due to them under partnership in April and October this year. Working practices like overtime and travelling time are to be abolished.

This will mean fewer buses, more crowding and buses being too full to pick up passengers, longer waits and more traffic congestion as more people are forced to use their cars because of the wrecked bus service.

Six months ago the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport recommended that there should be an increase of 350 buses to ease traffic congestion in Dublin . If this were done there would be an important reduction in greenhouse gases which are leading to environmental crisis and life would be a little bit easier for the harassed inhabitants of Dublin.

The Greens commitment to cleaning up the environment did not survive long. Instead the Fianna Fail-Green Party government is more concerned to bail out the crooked bankers of Anglo-Irish and other banks than maintain jobs and services for working class people.

If Fianna Fail's rich friends and the Corporations were taxed equitably there would be plenty of money to ensure the Dublin Bus service was improved rather than slashed and jobs could be saved.

Residents Groups , Community Associations, local activists and trade unionists are coming together across the city in alliance with the Dublin Bus workers to fight these cuts. Together we can stop the government in its tracks.