i travelled a fair bit, i can assure you that people stand on buses & trains, all over the world.
Germany has great public transport,
i had to stand several times on the train from Hamburg to Frankfurt – for over 3 hours

I once spent a 4hr journey in the luggage compartment on a bus in Thailand coz of no seats so I can appreciate that! but with bus eireann I’ve used the same route for over 10 years and it hasn’t changed, so when you see strike action because of attempted change then I only have little sympathy of the people in the way of changes…

fair enough,
i was responding to your comment -
“if it’s illegal to drive without a seat belt how is it legal to stand upright in a bus doing 100kmh on a road???”

there is indeed need for big change in ourtransport companies.
like so many state services, you often get the impression that they’re there for the benifit of the employees, rather than the customers.

Exactly…. nobody better piss the workers off otherwise the unions throw their toys out of the pram and everyone gets screwed! if both sides had any business logic they’d be able to negotiate better! but they’re happier to piss Joe soap off instead

Well let’s just fire them all instead, or appropriate more funds though the Dáil.

Nobody gets it, do they.

And what ? Hand the country over to a Michael O Leary style employers .

Michael O’Leary satisfies a lot of customers.

He also hires A LOT of people.

I don’t see anything wrong with that

Nice bit of trolling there Richard. Should elicit an appropriate response from the hard hit travelling public

I don’t think it’s trolling, I use public transport and I support this strike, working conditions have to be defended.

Stil think the best way of a strike in public transport is an announcement that there will be no checks or card sales. Not sure if this is allowed in Ireland, but it did miracles for the public support of transport strikes in the Netherlands. :-)

As far as I know there was no duologue or negotiations with staff, bosses just decided to cut pay and holidays… can’t say I blame them…

Richard, So what is the average income of a cie bus driver ? How many hours a week are the asked to work in a standard week?? Btw I don’t know and the article doesn’t tell us ,what are the proposed changes in work practices ??, but lets say they cie is loss making , if its the private sector you are let go with only statutory redundancy , only 9 months of stamps , probably shit pension if you have one . Oh yeah those private bus drivers would have made millions during the boom years .You know reading these posts you would swear this was a socialist country , social media really is dominated by the left .

6

yet

Mick Jordan
People will be seriously effected whether or not industrial action goes ahead . From my understanding of the situation ,there will be a lot of changes in the service to the public,if the cuts go ahead, so that the company will save money . This will include cut backs to areas where these same people rely on the bus in rural areas no doubt. So maybe the men and women who voted for industrial action are doing us all a favor , by standing up and being counted.Who knows , that in the long run may even save an area their local bus service.
I wish them well, and my support.

Eileen that remains to be seen. But what is for sure that those people that you on the left are so fond of championing “the poor” are the ones going to be the ones affected. And they are not just calling on Bus Eireann to strike but Dublin Bus and the railways too. The Economy is just about recovering but as yet still very fragile. What happens if this is a prolonged strike. People can’t get to work, jobs are lost, and we are back to square one with the Economy in bits on the floor.
Will you be available to bring your elderly relatives/neighbours to get their groceries? How many old people won’t have someone to bring them. This is not like an Airline going on strike where it may interfere with your Holiday plans. This is going to effect peoples livelihoods.

Mick Jordan
You do not know me or know who or what I champion .There is no evidence to me or my friends and neighbours or family that the economy is recovering …. maybe for you it is as a wealthy business man you have not experienced austerity like the ordinary decent working people of this island. However , getting back to the jobs that will be lost , are you having a laugh ? Jobs are being lost right left and centre, emigration, suicides etc., home help hours cut . Don’t you worry about the elderly because if your lot cared there would be none of those cuts imposed and as for my ”holiday” plans ,I have not had a holiday since August 2008….. Oh and don’t people want a General strike ,maybe this is the start of it all changing for the better. Time will tell. 1913-2013 Full circle ? A s you say time will tell.

Wealthy Business man. LOL. If only I was Eileen. I am just another working person. But unlike you I don’t see the “glass half empty”. And if you re-read the article you will see that Mr Noone refers to the other CIE companies.
And as for the Economy yes there still is hardship and their will be for some time yet but as I said the recovery is just beginning and the last thing we need from unions is this type of disruption to essential services. Now CIE is a semi private company that receives subsidies from the state to operate in the less profitable routes. But on a whole like any private company it needs to generate enough money to pay overheads. And if said overheads are more than the company is currently making something has to give. So unless you wish the Government to re-nationalise the CIE group with all its costs then some reorganization has to take place.

ctually Mick
I am glass half full type of person in fairness. I have always advocated self help and discipline to help regenerate growth in the economy. Unfortunately , the government have not taken any heed of me or any one else with sensible ideas. You see I do not have a problem with austerity , if it is for all, and every one chips in, like the wealthy . We should be looking after those less fortunate no matter how rich or poor you are . We should be starting from scratch on our own terms. If you do not understand this Mick well there really is nothing to be said , if you have to be told you can not understand.

Eileen…tax the rich is a nonsense rant. Tell us how you would do this. How you can justify taking more than 48% of someones wages

Elbbit !
Nice name btw :)
Tax the rich ok.
One example of what I mean …
Starbucks have paid all of €35,000 since 2005 .
That is just one example .
Examine the IFSC and see how much more real tax can be reined in there or is it a laundering unit for big corporations ?

Well said Eileen…

SIPTU need to save face and were probably told by the workers that this is a scandalous situation.
They are beginning to see their own cards being marked.

John the baptist, Don’t try and bully Richard it won’t work.Your the person trolling.

Ahh Jaysus Denis at least try and troll in the right place

Hi John the Baptist,Your having a laugh using a saints name, arnt you the troller.

Ahh now Richard give it up I also saw your comment on the Student Grant. You’re tring to wind them up. You need to be a tad more subtle

i had planned to go to Dublin by train on Sunday
maybe i shoul change my plans – wouldn’t be nice to left stranded at Heuston, Sunday evening.

If they did’nt strike how much support would they get from the public? Sweet FA

CIE need to get real and start talking to their staff rather than trying to act the heavy just because there’s a blue shirt in the dept of transport

I support them and I’m joe public. Planned a visit that’s now shot but I really don’t mind. The workers are right in this instance and for once the unions are doing the right thing, looking after them. There’s more to come IMO with the nurses being badly abused and possibly the guards when their forced to take a career break.