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STAFF AT IRISH Rail who are members of the NBRU union could end up balloting for industrial action – up to and including strike – if proposed pay cuts at the company go ahead.
The National Bus and Railworkers’ Union (NBRU) had earlier withdrawn from talks as it said that “no serious attempts” were being made to address concerns of its members.
The union had accepted an invitation to the talks after its members earlier rejected a Labour Court recommendation over pay cuts, redundancies and restructuring at the company.
The proposed cuts at Irish Rail would be temporary and last for 25 months.
The NBRU had been calling for staff to receive a dividend for achieving €37 million worth of savings at Irish Rail since 2008, and to draw up a framework “for a future sharing of savings”.
The union had earlier said that it would not ballot for industrial action – but this has now changed.
Up to and including strike
Speaking to TheJournal.ie today, Dermot O’Leary of the NBRU said that a ballot was not set in stone, but if the company announces at the end of this week that it will bring in the proposed cuts, a ballot will take place.
He said the ballot would be for “industrial action up to and including an all-out strike”.
The union believes the railway service is underfunded and that the Government subvention is “back at 1998 levels”.
SIPTU members have been balloting on the cost-saving measures, and the ballot is due to be counted on Friday of this week.
It is believed that SIPTU workers will back the measures – but if the NBRU goes on strike, SIPTU workers are unlikely to pass their picket lines.
Irish Rail has previously warned that the failure to implement cost-saving measures will result in redundancies and the closure of some lines.
Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar said earlier this year that strike action was “the last thing anyone wants to see”.
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It’s worry the amount of public & private institutions that are attempting to force the low earners within their organisations to take substantial pay cuts in 2014.. Sadly these cuts never effect management.. Unions are struggling to find their feet again & the likes of SIPTU who are in bed with Labour don’t want to cause a fuss whilst they are still in government.. Best of luck Irish Rail! I support you
Employers will not be happy until
all workers are on Jobbridge wages
Management will have to keep their money
as there jobs are the only important ones
*their
Joan burton, jobs bridge, insuring those before & after it’s implementation are a slave to a wage.. Good for big buisness though, that’s FG & Labour for ya ;-)
@ronan.. Most the drivers are nbru. So no drivers no trains.
Spitu is mainly management and clerical if they pass pickets that doesn’t mean trains will run.!!
If SIPTU pass it then thats 3 of the 4 unions and NBRU staff will have no choice and at some point will have to accept it. We all know that the NBRU are not representing their members correctly as saw by previous comments here.
What are their wages at present?
This always bugs me , they don’t list the pay scales and the unions expect support without bothering to tell us what xyz grade is earning.
From limited online research I’ve found that back in April they rejected even a 1.7% pay cut, most people in the private sector have had to take 20-40% and they don’t have the job security Irish Rail workers have.
That’s not a small thing, these days it’s highly unusual to even get a permanent contract in the Private Sector unless you are personally well valued. That security matters a lot in these times.
At the last pay talks, those earning €30,000 would lose €510 a year; those on €50,000 would sacrifice €850.
For those earning between €56,000 and €61,999, the rate of cut is 2.2pc, then 3.3pc up to €74,999, 3.6pc up to €79,999, 4.1pc up to €94,999, 5.1pc up to €99,999, and 6.1pc for more than €100,000.
….So what that means is the ”cut” can hardly even be described as such, 9 euro a week to 50 or so…not nothing but hardly massive.
At least you know your companys not going to go out of business due to rate hikes or lack of customers due to govt austerity because your company is totally protected from market forces by nature.
My advice to the union would be to go back to the Transport minister and tell him you’ve changed your mind and you have no problem with an audit on the waste in CIE because it’s either that waste goes, or your wages dive, the state finances are not in a position to allow both.
Cuts are always one way, the workers, pay, pensions, and conditions in all industries are under attack. While its jobs for the boys with Hogan and Rabbitte, no shortage of largesse in Irish Water. There will be an awful long way to go to get back to square one if ever things get better, meanwhile management will reap all the rewards.
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