Why are the unions so set on refusing to let Labour Court rule on pay claim?

RAIL unions are refusing to as the Labour Court to settle their pay row – insisting on proceeding with strikes instad.

The Labour Court held hearings on the pay dispute during the summer, before directing the unions and Irish Rail to go back to the Workplace Relations Commission for further talks.

In August, Labour Court chairman Kevin Foley urged both parties to return to the Labour Court if those talks were unsuccessful.

Yesterday, however, the unions made it clear they were not prepared to let the Labour Court decide on the merits of their inflation-busting pay claim.

A spokesman for Irish Rail last night appealed for the unions to return to the Labour Court. However the unions rejected this request and opted to pursue strikes instead.

Dermot O’Leary, general secretary of the National Bus and Rail Workers Union, claimed ‘the Labour Court is the last resort and it should be available to the parties to bridge a gap – considerably less than the gap that is between us now’.

A union source claimed the ‘gap today between the parties is so great that it may not be workable for the Labour Court to issue a recommendation to resolve it’, adding ‘the unions haven’t been invited at this time anyway’.

Transport Minister Shane Ross last night encouraged all the parties involved to use the State services to find a resolve.

The minister added: ‘It is important for the travelling public – and also for the staff and for the company itself – that public transport continues, and that the dispute is resolved in a realistic, fair and sustainable manner.’