TRADE UNION MEMBERS at Irish Rail have voted to accept a pay deal.
69% of Irish Rail’s NBRU members have voted to accept an agreement reached at the Labour Court last month. Meanwhile, 75% of Siptu members in Irish Rail have voted by 75% to accept the recommendations.
The Labour Court intervened with Irish Rail staff last month following a series of 24-hour rail strikes. The strikes were halted following the court’s recommendations.
In a joint statement last month, the unions involved said: “The proposals include annual pay increases of 2.5% for three years. These will come into effect on 1 December 2017, 1 December 2018 and 1 December 2019.”
In its recommendation, the Labour Court said that, if these measures are agreed to – which they have been now – unions should not make any further pay claims over the lifetime of the deal.
It also included provisions for both sides to agree to a number of initiatives including a performance management scheme and an improved absenteeism policy.
Reaction
In a statement today, NBRU general secretary Dermot O’Leary said: “Our members have made a mature and pragmatic decision in accepting this pay award after 10 years of pay stagnation.
“The third party industrial relations institutions of the State, both the WRC and the Labour Court have demonstrated that their independence is fundamental in disputes of this nature.
The NBRU will now concentrate on ensuring that our members in Bus Éireann will soon be in a similar position to colleagues in Iarnród Éireann and Dublin Bus, by achieving a long overdue and well-deserved pay award.
“We will also be holding Minister Shane Ross to account on his commitment to establishing a Public Transport Forum, where we will be insisting that the issue of a stable industrial relations climate (endorsed by the Labour Court) in the public transport sector will be discussed.”
Siptu organiser Paul Cullen said: “Over the last two years, there has been major industrial action at Dublin Bus, Bus Éireann and Irish Rail.
“It is in order to end such a chaotic approach to public transport, so that the travelling public is not unnecessarily inconvenienced again, that Siptu representatives are repeating our request that the Minister agrees a mutually acceptable time and date to begin the necessary dialogue on the future of public transport.”
Iarnróid Éireann has said it welcomes today’s outcome, and will now move to the implementation phase.
“[Irish Rail] looks forward to engaging with our trade unions on the essential efficiently and productivity issues outlined in the recommendation, and within the timescales detailed by the Labour Court.”
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