As if the bus strikes weren't enough - now union wants to spoil Christmas

Ryan Tubridy on RTE's The Late Late Toy Show Picture: Andres Poveda

Ian O'Doherty

It has been a busy time for unions in this country of late. The strikes were seen by many observers as just the first blow of a newly militant union approach towards industrial relations.

They were, in many ways, an expeditionary force sent out to see just how far they could push management and the Government - their customers, as is usually the case, were an afterthought to be mentioned only in terms of platitudes and vague expressions of regret.