Bus Eireann strike to begin at midnight

Bus Eireann's services are set to grind to a halt from midnight tonight (Thursday) after one of the unions involved in an ongoing dispute at the company announced an all-out strike.

The National Bus and Rail Union (NBRU) said cuts due to be implemented by company management were 'the straw that has broken the back.'

'The letter issued on the 22nd March by Bus Éireann Management is clearly the straw that has broken the back in terms of spelling out exactly what the real agenda is here,' said NBRU General Secretary Dermot O’Leary.

'The new management structure at Bus Éireann have clearly signalled that they are intent on pursuing a race to the bottom in relation to workers jobs, terms and conditions and to reposition Bus Éireann as a low cost transport provider.'

The NBRU will now engage in an all-out indefinite strike from midnight tonight in response to what it described as 'Bus Éireann’s appalling declaration of war on its own workforce.'

The union said it remained 'available at any stage to reengage on an efficiency based agenda in order to resolve the Expressway crisis.'

Bus Eireann said it was 'extremely disappointed' that unions had called the strike action. 

'Industrial action will cause major inconvenience to our customers and exacerbate the perilous financial situation at the company,' it said in a statement.