Irish Rail’s drivers will get €59k salary if pay deal is agreed
DRIVERS in Irish Rail will end up with a salary of €59,381 if the pay deal recently recommended by the Labour Court is accepted.
Unions representing the 3,800 workers at Irish Rail are currently considering the deal and it is understood a ballot is to be completed early next month.
As part of the recommendations, workers would be set to receive annual increases of 2.5% for three years as well as the possibility of f urther increases subject to productivity.
New figures show that this would lead to salaries for some station managers employed at the company to rise to €71,697 by December 2019. A sample of the pay grades in Irish Rail, based on figures ‘top of scale for typical employee in each grade’, shows that a driver’s pay packet will rise f rom €55,238 to €59,381.
If the recommendation is accepted, a station operative who is currently in receipt of € 47,188 will see their pay packet rise to €50,727. And a craft worker currently in receipt of €42,369 will see these increases bring their salary to €45,547 by the end of 2019. While a mid-ranking executive, in grade C, will go from €63,615 up to €68,386.
While there are other pay scales in operation, this information obtained by the Irish Daily Mail is deemed to be the ‘most common one within each grade’. This Labour Court recommendation also includes a provision for staff to receive a €500 voucher as a ‘once off goodwill gesture’.
Speaking l ast night, the National Bus and Rail Union’s general secretary Dermot O’Leary said his members work between 44 and 48 hours per week and had ‘cooperated with all the changes required to turn Irish Rail from a rickety old rail network into one of the most modern railways in western Europe’.
He went on to say: ‘Those workers have done so with up to 25% less staff – over €29million saved in payroll since 2008 – and were instrumental in enabling Irish Rail to save circa €74million in operating costs since 2012.
‘It should also be noted that it has been over 10 years since the l ast pay ri se at the company.’
Mr O’Leary added: ‘It should be understood that safetycritical Irish Rail workers who, unlike their office-based 9am to 4pm managers, work a variety of shifts, night and day, across weekends and public holidays, have embraced significant change over the last fifteen years.
‘They include taking on extra responsibility, commensurate with the operation of a Safe Railway environment for both passengers and commuters.’
A spokesperson for Irish Rail said: ‘ With our challenging financial situation, we are reviewing the recommendation to ensure all aspects of it and other non-payroll costsaving measures can be delivered to ensure that, with pay improvements, our financial sustainability is maintained.’
Meanwhile, there were fresh hopes l ast night that any potential strike action at Bus Éireann over rostering issues will be averted.
Bus Éireann confirmed last night that they have agreed to defer the implementation of the new rosters, as ‘driver unions have agreed to attend a conciliation conference at the WRC next Monday’.