Transport for the Public?

by Mike

I get confused about Trade Unions and what they are exactly meant to do. I mean they are largely made up of the working class and most of the time it is the case that grievances with employers who normally have too much power are tackled head on by these representatives and usually some sort of compromise is reached.

Also in the majority of the time the public will back their plight because it could be any one of us suffering when it comes to fighting the good fight against the “Man”. Dublin Bus, to me, however do not seem to come across that way.

In my case, living out in Celbridge, the evening bus service is terrible. If I want to stay in town after work I am faced with the prospect of one bus an hour after 7.30pm (8.10, 9, 10.05 and 11.15) there are some worse off then that but I can only speak for myself. Many governments have seemingly caved into Dublin Bus and given them such a strong foothold that they know they can cause chaos if they announce a strike the day before it is due to begin.

Try getting small businesses, whose employees rely on public transport to get to their destinations, on your side when you hold everyone to ransom just because you are not happy with a new bus route. Yes there are some who are willing to support a cause but when that cause becomes yesterday’s news then their thoughts will go elsewhere.

I would love to see a compromise (mainly because I cannot drive) and see both the government and the trade unions representing Dublin Bus workers come back to reality and see that the only people being hurt in this are the working public. Forget jobs for life, whether it is true or not in this company, forget re-election can public transport actually jump into the 21st Century like many other European cities have and provide us with a reason not to jump in cars every morning. It works with the Dart and the Luas so there must be some way to work it out right?

After all Dublin Bus’ objective is to “provide a passenger service by road for the city and county of Dublin and contiguous areas”

Whenever you’re ready folks!

Monday, November 12th, 2007 and is filed under Thoughts & Questions, Views on News.