The Department of Community, Culture and Leisure says the decision to lay off around a hundred bus drivers at the weekend was the only way to break a stalemate in talks over terms and conditions.
The drivers will now have to reapply for their old jobs – but the main bone of contention, paid lunch breaks, won’t be included in the new contracts.
Nick Black of the DCCL acknowledged the move could lead to industrial action.
But he says long-running discussions with the drivers and their union were getting nowhere.
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