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STAFF AT RTÉ have rejected a cost-cutting plan that envisaged temporary pay cuts of between 3-5%
The plan is part of efforts by the national broadcaster to reduce costs by €60 million over three years, with the temporary pay cuts believed to target a saving of over €8 million a year.
The ballot came about following negotiations earlier this year between management and the RTÉ Trade Union Group (RTÉ TUG).
A proposed plan was then put to a ballot of staff members, which has now been rejected by a margin of 87% by 13%.
RTÉ director general Dee Forbes said earlier this year that the cuts were needed “to ensure our continued viability”.
In a statement today, RTÉ TUG said the proposals were now “off the table”.
“The proposals have been overwhelmingly rejected by members across all unions. The clear message is that these proposals are now off the table. Staff will not accept a pay cut and RTÉ management must reflect on that reality,” the union said.
Our members have not had a general pay increase for 13 years. It is now a matter for RTÉ to consider the outcome of the ballot. The TUG will continue to be available for discussions with management and our engagement in negotiations will be informed by the outcome of the ballot.
The proposals had included provisions for:
All staff with salaries under €40,000 were to be exempt from pay cuts.
After that level, the cuts would gradually increase from 3.35% to 5.35% on salaries between €40,ooo and above €160,000.
It meant, for example, that a staff member earning €45,000 per year would see a reduction of €800, while someone earning €250,000 would have their pay cut by €12,575.
Had the proposals been accepted, it was planned that the temporary cuts would have commenced from the beginning of next month and last until April 2023.
In a statement this afternoon, RTÉ said that it is “disappointed with the outcome” and will engage further with RTÉ TUG.
“The graduated pay cuts and other related savings were a key part of the drive to reduce costs, alongside strategies to grow commercial revenue,” RTÉ said.
“RTÉ will now have to consider other options as to how best to make the necessary savings while continuing as much as possible to protect programming and services for the public, and retain jobs.
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Sack the whole lot of them
@Tim Oconnell: I worked for an American company back over 20 years ago. The dotcom bust hit and business dropped. The CEO made the decision that everyone took a pay cut and therefore nobody would be let go. Engineers took 3%, managers 5% all the way up to high level management who took 12% cut. Nobody complained as it saved jobs and after about 18 months everything was put back right again.
Greed is the number one issue at RTE. Top dollar for very little output and none of them want to take one for the team.
@David Corrigan: absolutely correct, the golden circle that is RTÉ
@Tim Oconnell: I always wonder why are salaries so high in RTE, in a country with little or no competition. I mean who’s going to nab Ryan or Derek
@RJ: Do you think 45, 000 euro a year is a high salary?
@Liz O’Neill: ah don’t mind the begrudgers. More power to them. They should fight for what they have. With the rising cost of living no way should they accept less.
@Tim Oconnell: we don’t need rte and it’s army of tv licence inspectors shut it down
@David Corrigan: We have to pay a tv license as well to watch the crap that is on it. They should be made take a paycut. With what is happening in the world today it is that they don’t care.
@Tim Oconnell: fully agree
@Tim Oconnell: don’t forget few presenter too much salary need cut too and rte ceo woman her salary should cut oo
@David Corrigan: “none of them will take one for the team”
I wonder would your tune change if you knew that at the beginning of 2009 we in RTE overwhelmingly accepted RTE’s proposed cuts to our wages, overtime rates, annual leave and sick leave and well as changes to work practices because we knew the company needed to cut costs. Those cuts lasted practically 9 years until we got pay restored. After only 2 years of pay restoration they have come at us again for cuts and this time the staff has said an overwhelming no because we’ve already done our bit. It’s been over 15 years since I’ve had any pay increase.
I’m 24 years in RTE and it still amazes me the amount of people who think just because you work in RTE you are on some gravy train of wages.
Simple solution here.
Tv licence goes through electricity bill. That way every business/home contributes to the cost and the charge for collection disappears. Can’t have a TV without electricity.
Also cut the presenter contracts by a minimum of 25%. It’s still plenty of money. If you don’t like it, you’re free to go Toni e of the commercial stations.
@Jason Ebbs: are you on a final salary pension scheme? Are you on pay grades and do you receive pay increments? There is still a cohort in RTE who think public sector. Those days are gone. If the service isn’t commercially viable then the service goes. The TV lic payer can’t be expected to continually over subsidise a failing service. Privatise it, make it subscription based and then see if it sinks or swims.
@Jason Ebbs: My tune doesn’t need changing. Every year your management team come cap in hand begging for more money. You should aim your anger at your management team and tell them to improve their financial management skills. Also, your end product is dire and nobody wants it. As a license fee payer I demand better from you and your peers.
@GrumpyAulFella: the answers to your first 3 questions is, no, no and no.
@David Corrigan: we did aim our anger at management, that’s why we voted no.
@Liz O’Neill: I’ll bet a lot of people do !
@RJ: who’s Derek?
@Sequoia: the problem with a set up like that woukd be like when the issue of a household tax was raised in the 80s or 90s it was decided the rate of car tax would increase by a percentage instead of a separate tax. Fast forward and the car tax increase was still there and a new property tax introduced. Double bubble. Staff should get paid whatever they want to pay them but they should also have to actually earn enough to cover their cost of running and not get state payments. How can a media outlet be impartial when they are being paid by the government
Only issue with that is are you prepared to accept redundancies, if so then fine because their is very little else to cut costs in a high personnel industry
@Jason Ebbs: you work for a company that’s losing money handover first. exactly who do you think should pay ?
@Ken Smyth: yes fire them, too much dead wood in rte !
@David Corrigan: American law is no doubt different but an Irish CEO can’t just come in one day and tell you they’re paying you less! You have a signed contract.
@Brian Flavin: She gets an allowance of 38k a year, which is more than the average salary.
@Jason Ebbs: Ah boo hoo, you and every other civil/public servant suffered those pay cuts.
What’s the point of RTE anyway? What programmes do RTE actually make besides news and the only news is about Dublin, London and Washington and that news is incredibly biased.
The rest of the country or the world doesn’t exist.
RTE should be shut down. Instead independent production companies should be supported to provide programming.
@Tom Ripley: you are paying for it in your taxes, but sure you knew that being a troll commentator for the journal inc
@Jason Ebbs: because you are on a gravey train, that the public pay for, no one feels sorry for you at all, RTE IS NOT FIT FOR PURPOSE
@Jason Ebbs: pretty sure Ryan Tubridy is the captain on the gravy train.
@Alan Henderson: It was an American based CEO who made the decision and all of us in their facility in Dublin, Ireland took the pay cuts.
@Jason Ebbs: part of the problem with public perception of RTÉ are the eye watering (for most people) salaries of the top earners at the station. Unfortunately that is the yardstick be which everything and everyone else like yourself in RTÉ is judged. Given that the financial fallout from the Covid crisis that the country is facing into – business closures, job losses – there won’t be much sympathy or understanding of the predicament of ordinary earners at the station.
Management at the station need to come up with new initiatives to combat the shortfall. They should be talking to the staff and to the viewers. Could the staff come up with alternatives to maintain as many jobs as possible? Managements, for many reasons, tend to cut rather than preserve!
Over paid, and not one of them worth it, we could do without RTE 90% of programs are repeats.
@Jimmy Mac: keep Tommy that’s about it
@Nigel Comerford: who Tommy Gorman
@Jimmy Mac: shut it I will not loose any sleep over it if it went off air
@Jimmy Mac: it is a basket case shut it down. They don’t offer mobile, internet or subscription service and they believe we owe them a living
Wipe out RTE and start again
Just let RTE go. These mostly talentléss hacks (I mean, “talented presenters”) can go out to the market and see their real worth.
@Alan Wright: nobody would hire most of them.
@Alan Wright: there are other people who work there other than the faces we see on screen so it wou,d be unfair to judge the ordinary workers there by the same criteria.
Sack them!
Sell off the station.
It’s a money losing organisation. It needs to be disbanded. Being propped up by the poor TV licence holder. Thankfully I’m not one of them. Wouldn’t pay this clique of gangsters a cent.
@AllyK: so your logic for state services is they should make money? Shall we close down all public services that don’t make a profit?
@Gerard Smith: No, just the ones that force us to pay whether we want them out not.
@AllyK: *or*
@AllyK: At least BBC only get the licence fee . RTE get advertising revenue as well and still can’t balance the books
@Terry Cahill: True Terry and they make the odd decent programme. RTE, constantly showing repeats. Don’t show rugby and many other sports (national). They are gone with the times. Why not scramble it and let people pay a subscription? Not a chance, because they know there would be a mass exodus on their balance sheet. Nobody should be forced to buy aproduct or service if they don’t want it.
Enda on the cho cho train took the biscuits whoever thought this was a good idea needs sacking .
I’m happy to do for 1/3 of their salary if that helps
@Nicholas O’Halloran: so you would be happy to work for 15.000 per annum? Nice one.
Just shut down rte and save us all
Their big spend is probably on the main presenters who are contracted in and in theory not on the books so their pay won’t be hit at all- better negotiations when contracts are being renewed would save more money. D’Arcy is robbing a living from us all.
@murt de murty: When Darcy was with today fm all he done was complain about the wages in RTÉ
@murt de murty: Let D’Arcy, Tubs and Joe go. Cringeworthy, politically correct hacks. Can’t listen to any of them. Who else would touch them? Start there.
A bit unfair to be asking someone on just over €40,000 to take a 3.5% paycut and anyone earning over €180,000 only takes 5.35% so I can see why lower earners rejected it as for anyone earning over €200,000 they should be made take a 25% paycut at the very least and the nonsense that RTÉ come out with that if they didn’t pay the big bucks they would be offered that money in a rival station is a joke. Tubridy went to BBC years ago and came back with a his tail between his legs as they didn’t want him.
@Niall Moonan: Tubridy, Miriam etc aren’t employees they are contractors. The pay cut wouldn’t have affected them
@NickyVera: just don’t renew their contracts they’ll hardly be missed
@Niall Moonan: Absolutely agree.
@NickyVera: that’s the galling part if it. The real problems are not being addressed.
Rte pontificating for the past year with all their guests about how we all have to try a little harder and make sacrifices. More Monty python gold.
Ok. Plan B. We will have to increase the licence…
R.T.E. programmes are generally useless. Repeats, repeats and more repeats. Ryan Tubridy, Miriam O’Callaghan, Ray Darcy, Joe Duffy and a few more hangers on are paid outlandish wages. In fact these wages are immoral. There presenters could easily be replaced by more competent people who would do better jobs at a quarter the cost. If this doesn’t happen, I don’t think anyone would lose a nights sleep if R T.E. was closed down. Big salaries for the boys with a couple of women thrown in.
@Mary Hynes: yup, yup, yup there you go!
#RTEbias a joke of a station
They might as well ride the gravey train as long as they can
Get rid of Philip Boucher Hayes and stop paying Bertie Ahearn and ex CEO of the HSE O for their opinions
Increase in TV licence inevitable now ??
@Caitríona Faherty: yep, pretty much.
When the staff refuse to see that rte pay out too much the tax payer will fit the bill
@Caitríona Faherty: i’d like to what % of the people would vote to reject an increase in the licence fee ??? Or what % of Turkeys would vote for Christmas – i mean asking the staff to vote on pay cuts and the when 87% say nope – saying thats grand so thats that off the table———a perfect example of everything that is wrong with the management of the organisation – needs complete reform.
@Dave Hammond: I’d like to see the breakdown of the votes by % reduction.
How much of RTÉ staff are earning over €40,60,80k and the rest.
If I was earning €40k I’d take a €800 cut to save jobs as long as the higher ups took a bigger hit.
Does this mean rte could be going on strike… Are they not meant to be bankrupt.. I’d suggest a mutinee at rte by their crew. And then take over the tv/radio, with the intension of producing creative programmes with genuine talent..
Ie clear the decks, and bring in new fresh talent.. Talent that not only
entertains, but also can speak good clear English!.
As a voice coach myself, I, d be happy to coach their voice skills with no payment..!!
I imagine they will have just signed the death warrant for a number of staff who will now be made redundant. Just hope they protect those under 40k.
Enda on the choo choo train took the biscuits whoever thought this was a good idea needs sacking .
Make rte pay per view … take the monster wages out of the subscriptions … have a small tv license fee to cover other non wage stuff …
@Max Power: Just out of interest, what is the max you would pay per year?
@Eamonn Martin: Nothing in the current format but at least have that choice in not having to pay
@Eamonn Martin: depending on the program… but 20 to 50 cent would be average…. it may work out more than the tv license currently is … but I would stop people complaining about the rte employees getting overpaid.. fair play to them if they can earn their 300k per year on pay per view tv
@Max Power: We all know RTE would be bust in a week if it went pay per view
@Mickety Dee: you never know….a lot of people moan about the big pay the presenters are on but they still tune in and watch…. With internet connection the whole world is rte’s market…. not just our 5 million moaners …they may find few hundred million extra viewers around the world that would pay to listen and watch our paddy whackery so called entertainment …. screw a few 50cents from few hundred million would be better than the current funding method
@Max Power: Was there anything in particular you would pay for ? Just racking my brains but couldn’t think of anything worth paying for… per view. Already paying enough.
Just listening to 6.01 news. This got a ten seconds mention without any details or comment. Thanks for keeping us informed, RTE!
RTE should do us alla favour and go on strike
Cardboard Gangsters.
Don’t expect to get more from the tax payer ie TV Licence
State Sponsored Rubbish station at it again, about time it was gotten rid off the state funds and either sold off or shut down, when they put donkeys like Enda Kenny on shows, it shows their political bias. Stop the archaic TV license too, its beyond ridiculous that its still a process in todays Ireland
@Adam J: you do know lots of countries have a TV licence right?
@Sam Harms: And they also have many more channels and the likes of the BBC have no ad’s either ..
@Sam Harms: not co##upt like rte though!
@Sam Harms: antiquated concept! Should we also have a smartphone licence and one for laptops? How about a Fitbit license?
For starters an immediate cancellation of all contractors as most of the top 10 earners are, same as private companies do. Get rid of the old political class and give the likes of Tommy Ternan & Sarah McInerney top billing and new talent a chance plenty out there if the dinosaurs are culled.
@Da Dell: Funny thing about the Irish contractors Revenue have not bothered them or RTE ,But a certain airline has had Revenue on to them about some employees contracting.
Don’t renew their contracts. Don’t pay any presenter more than 100 thousand. Problems solved.
Oh well, I won’t miss RTE…
TG4 is far better anyway, Fargo, Alias Grace, Survivor, Irish documentary etc
Get rid of them useless presenters on 2fm in the morning. Doireann and Jen zap. How they even got onto the station is beyond me. That will save them some money.
So 87% of RTE staff are on wages over 40,000 euros. RTE really needs to be broken up. Saorview offers 900 channels instead it broadcasts less than 10. What that sales team doing? Its like a expencive white elephant that prop up RTE ratings by number of channels must limited. If saorview offered a hundred channels would anyone watch RTE channels?
Each County could have its own channel. Transition years students could create content or at least learn about an industry. We must forget about this 1950 media mindset and let our youth free with unlimited freedom. The TV licence should offer every view of Ireland and free broadband.
@leartius: the youth are already free – they are growing up with youtube and streaming services – if a day comes when they actually get to have a say or a choice to subscribe or pay for RTE the reality that their 1950 media mindset is living way beyond its means will become very apparent…..if it’s anything like their covid management we will of course have a Claire Byrne Special Poll saying 95% of people in Ireland think the govt are amazeballs and that RTE should be kept in its current format and oh yeah we all love lockdown and want it to be extended.
Goverment run, get rid of.
Do they think they’re better than us
@Jonathan: yes
@Jonathan: Yes and getting paid handsomely by us as well.
Absolutely sack them. Entitled pr ic ks
Is it true that the average pay in RTÉ is €71,000? Is it true that there is no early morning show cause they’re too lazy to get up? I think we should have a national broadcaster but there have to be huge changes. Reduce Tubridy and Darcy’s pay by two thirds and look for cheaper younger talent
Their all on holiday this week.. radio and TV. It’s a joke.. no wonder it’s losing money..
I have no problem paying for my TV licence every year costs less than a pint a week. Tired of people whingeing about the cost but have no problem paying sky 80 euro a month for sports coverage.
I have watched TV from all over the world and RTE punches above its weight compared to most of them.
Sack them there not worth what they are paid over paid wasters
RTE need to change things urgently. People are moving to Netflix, Amazon Prime and Disney. The days of sitting and watching a movie of RTE is gone. People aren’t watching it anymore. They need to rethink the whole model and very soon. Forcing more charges on people or devices isn’t going to work. The tv licence model is over.
I’d cut RTE off altogether.
It’s not just the pay, rte engineers all get a company vehicle fully taxed and insured.
Headlines on 6 ó clock news.
RTE? Being greedy? No no no….
They should talk to joe
@Christy Mc Carthy: As long as I don’t have to listen to Joe, I am fine…
Bless their innocence. Redundancy lomes!
The staff should look at the alternative job opportunities in Ireland of not being employed at RTÉ should bankruptcy ensue. Virgin Media cuts its cloth to its measure and I venture equivalent salaries for top presenters there are mere fractions of what’s paid to Rte presenters.
Let them strike I for one will not miss RTE if it goes off the airway’s.
RTE?? Is that still a thing?? Dark ages
The poor quality of Ireland’s National public service broadcaster is largely a function of the small uneconomic market that is Ireland. Truth is Ireland is only about half the population of single US city like New York or London in UK but carries the overheads of a whole nation and the people expect those standards (& salaries). Many (not all) services here are far below international standards and that may be something that needs to be accepted or be unaffordable. BBC NI news and weather production standards are far higher but they tap into a much bigger and efficient UK structure.
@Cez Miname: BBC NI is parochial. BBC news is biased rubbish.
@Teresa Ryan: and you think RTe isn’t?
@Teresa Ryan: BBC NI is a regional UK TV it’s intended to be ‘local’ – the main BBC national news and weather has already been delivered before it broadcasts. But I wasn’t referring to content but rather than to standards – tonight, record the RTÉ 6pm weather and compare with the BBC NI – the quality of presentation is miles apart in professionalism. Just saying….
have your say