Irish Rail staff accept recommended pay deal
Irish Rail staff with the NBRU have accepted a pay deal recommended by the Labour Court.
It allows for a 7.5% pay hike for workers over 3 years.
The Labour Court intervened following a series of 24-hour rail strikes.
In a statement, the NBRU says it will now concentrate on ensuring that members in Bus Eireann also receive a pay award.
NBRU General Secretary Dermot O'Leary said: "Our members have made a mature and pragmatic decision in accepting this pay award after ten years of pay stagnation; they have done so in the face of a management team who, led by the CEO, set it's 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, superior to the much vaunted, but in reality the shambolic overpriced privately run railway system in the UK.
"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 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."
Iarnród Éireann also welcomed the trade union's acceptance of the Labour Court recommendation.
A statement from the company said: "Iarnród Éireann has received confirmation this afternoon that all of the company’s trade unions – SIPTU, NBRU, TSSA, TEEU and Unite - have accepted the Labour Court recommendation on pay in the company.
"The company welcomes this outcome, and will now move to the implementation phase. It looks forward to engaging with our trade unions on the essential efficiency and productivity issues outlined in the recommendation, and within the timescales detailed by the Labour Court.
"Most importantly, this will ensure service continuity for our customers, and allow us to develop our services in response to growing customer demand.
"We again apologise to customers who were impacted by the industrial disputes on 1st and 7th November last. As the industrial relations issues are now resolved, a form for season ticket holders (weekly, monthly and annual) to claim refunds for the dates of disruption is now available at www.irishrail.ie"
