BUS STOP; 180,000 PASSENGERS STRANDED AS DRIVERS CALL 24-HOUR STRIKE.

Byline: JILLY BEATTIE 

MORE than 180,000 people will be stranded today as Northern Ireland's bus drivers strike.

Morning rush hour will be severely affected by the strike action as drivers protested about pay and conditions.

Translink last night tried to block the move in the High Court in Belfast.

But after four hours of legal argument Justice Girvan ruled against the company and refused them an injunction.

Lawyers for Translink had argued that since workers have been balloted about action, there had been improved offers which were not referred back to them.

The company did not appeal the ruling but said it was disappointed that what it called "unjustified action" would now go ahead.

Bus drivers' unions said the strike, which started at midnight, will be the first of a series of one-day stoppages.

John Coffey, chairman of the bus drivers section in the AT&GWU, said: "We are delighted. This action was over the rights of workers to take industrial action.

"It showed that Translink was willing to come to court rather than have meaningful negotiations to try and solve the money problems of bus drivers."

All Citybus and Ulsterbus services will be off the road, affecting 180,000 people, including 65,000 schoolchildren.

And thousands of families are expected to find private transport to get their youngsters to school or keep them at home.

Bus lanes will be open to regular traffic during the strike but the extra vehicles are expected to cause major rush hour traffic jams.

Schools have even been told they can close if they think pupils' safety would be affected, while the Department of Education said absences would not be marked up. Without an agreement between drivers and management, other strike dates will include October 24 and 31 as well as November 7 and 10.

But education bosses said they were worried any further strike action will prove disastrous for children sitting the 11-plus exam next month.

A statement issued by Translink on Wednesday said the unions had rejected a "specific request" that school services be exempt from the planned industrial action.

But Mr Coffey said the strike was necessary and would be wide-ranging and hard-hitting.

Union members are not happy with the offer on the table because their members' wages are so low, he said.

Drivers' basic salaries are about pounds 13,500 which they supplement with overtime of around pounds 5,000 a year. A new European directive will limit overtime hours so unions want to raise the level of basic pay.

Mr Coffey said the increase on offer of 5.7 per cent was not enough.

He added: "Our wages are at least 17 per cent below the average manual worker's wage at the moment so that would not bring us near what we need.

Alan Walker from the General Consumer Council said many bus users were elderly or on low incomes. He added: "One in three homes here doesn't have access to a car, so those people are completely dependent on public transport to give them some sense of a normal daily life."

CAPTION(S):

PROTEST: John Coffey; OFF THE ROAD: Buses will stay at the depot