Labour Court recommends Bus Eireann give two drivers agreed options

The Labour Court recommended that Bus Eireann implement a conciliation agreement for driver A and give driver B the option of voluntary severance in a dispute over drivers’ categories and one-person operation. The recommendation was signed on 31 December 1998. The National Bus And Rail Union sought to move the two drivers from category 3 to category 1 or 2, which would give them different options under agreed voluntary-severance terms. Bus Eireann said the drivers were correctly listed in category 3 under a 1997 agreement and that any severance option depended on the choices of other drivers. The Court noted that a conciliation agreement for driver A had been confirmed in September 1998, but Bus Eireann later declined to endorse it over concerns about wider effects. Relying on assurances from the union and on the understanding that the recommendation would not set a precedent, the Court recommended implementing the agreement for driver A and giving driver B the voluntary-severance option.