Paul Murphy on Go Ahead strike: low pay, long waits
Paul Murphy criticised Go Ahead after workers voted for strike action, saying they are heading to the Labour Court over low pay and poor conditions. He urged support for the workers and called for an end to deregulation and privatisation in public transport.
Strike action and Labour Court
Murphy said Go Ahead workers voted for strike action just before Christmas and are now heading to the Labour Court due to unresolved pay and conditions disputes.
Reasons for strike
He attributed the industrial action to low pay, long shifts and unsociable hours, arguing these conditions are inadequate amid the cost of living crisis.
Passenger impact
Murphy warned that understaffing leads to missed services, citing buses such as the 175, 59 and 45A and saying passengers can be left waiting for up to an hour and a half.
Company profits and transfers
He stated that Go Ahead is profitable and that the company sent over 2.5 million euros to its parent company in Britain in the last year.
Government response on privatisation and worker protections
A minister responded that the government does not pursue wholesale privatisation, pointing to substantial investment in buses and rail, an expanded fleet and workforce, and a competition framework. The minister said entrants to the market must ensure worker protections and that industrial relations mechanisms should resolve pay issues.
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The workers at Go Ahead voted for strike action just before Christmas, they are now heading to the Labour Court, but the reason that they overwhelmingly voted for strike action is because of the low pay that they are facing, which is entirely inadequate in the context of the cost of living crisis, because of the long shifts and because of the unsociable hours. They are the victims of the project of successive governments to drive a race to the bottom in public transport, completely against the interests of workers, of those trying to take the buses, and our environment and the need to shift people out of private cars. The other victims are the people who, of course, are sitting waiting for the buses, for the 175, for the 59, for the 45A, because when one bus is missing because of not having insufficient staffing, then people can be waiting for up to an hour and a half, it is completely unacceptable. Go Ahead is a profitable company, they sent over 2.5 million euros home in the last year to their parent company in Britain. So will you support the workers in their struggle for a decent wage, and will you stop the process of deregulation and privatisation? We are not stopping, sorry, we do not have a policy of wholesale privatisation. We have invested in piecemeal privatisation. No, no, let us be balanced. We have invested very substantially in public transport, and we will continue to invest and expand public service provision in the transport world. I mean, there is unprecedented investment going into buses, rail in terms of air and bus airing, in terms of buses. We have expanded the fleet, we have expanded the workforce, but likewise, in terms of the competition framework we have worked in, there is room for both. But whoever enters into the market has to ensure that workers are protected, and that paying conditions are such that they meet the proper norms and that the industrial relations mechanisms are then used to resolve any issues that arise in respect of paying conditions. And in this instance, that's what I would advise.
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