Breathe, the threat of an Irish Rail strike is over.
For those travelling over Christmas, it should come as a relief after the National Bus and Railworkers Union, Siptu and Unite voted in favour of a 7.5% pay rise over the next three years.
Unions agreed to end the threat of any further stoppages following the two-day strike last month, once it was agreed that each pay rise would come into place annually on 1 December from 2018 until 2020. As part of the deal, staff would each receive a €500 voucher for Christmas.
NBRU voted 69% in favour of the pay rise, with Siptu voting 75% and Unite by 83%, the Irish Independent reported.
After agreeing to this deal, the Labour Court made the recommendation that unions should not make any more pay claims for the deal’s duration. It also encouraged both sides to agree upon a series of initiatives, including a performance management scheme and improved absenteeism policy.
Irish Rail have said that Siptu, NBRU, Unite, Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association and the Technical Engineering & Electrical Union had accepted the Labour Court’s ruling.
Describing the actions of the unions as “mature and pragmatic… in accepting this pay award after 10 years of pay stagnation”, General Secretary of the NBRU, Dermot O’Leary went on to say: “They have done so in the face of a management team who, led by the CEO, set its face against recognising the fact that staff that have contributed greatly to making Iarnród Éireann a successful modern railway service, with record revenue and the highest ever recorded passenger numbers,” he said.
O’Leary went on to state that the NBRU would concentrate on ensuring members of Bus Éireann would find themselves with a similar result, “by achieving a long overdue and well-deserved pay award.”
SIPTU Organiser, Paul Cullen, urged Minister for Transport, Shane Ross to agree upon a date to start talks on the future of public transport.
“Over the last two years, there has been major industrial action at Dublin Bus, Bus Éireann and Irish Rail,” he said.
“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.”
LISTEN: You Must Be Jokin’ with Aideen McQueen – Faith healers, Coolock craic and Gigging as Gaeilge
RELATED ARTICLES
MORE FROM JOE
MORE FROM JOE
