‘This offer creates a pay divide between drivers of up to €21,000’

Luas driver and Siptu shop steward Richard McCarthy says he is not surprised the

“divisive” proposals put forward for resolving the dispute at the light rail system have been strongly rejected.

In his view, the proposed measures failed to improve drivers’ terms and conditions and “in some cases worsened them”.

If introduced, he claims, they would have resulted in some drivers earning up to €21,000 more than others.

Mr McCarthy said the offer that emerged from talks at the Workplace Relations Commission was conditional on drivers accepting a reduction in the rate of pay for new entrants by 10 per cent, bringing it back to 2004 levels.

Underpaid

“This undermines our longstanding argument that Luas drivers have been underpaid since 2004, and undermines the role and responsibility of a safety-critical Luas driver.”

Mr McCarthy said the offer was conditional on the existing 10-year incremental pay scale being increased to a 14-year scale. He also said the proposal would have involved drivers agreeing to work longer shifts, from nine hours to 9½ hours.

“This is the equivalent of one extra working day per month or 12 extra days work a year. Luas drivers fought hard for five years to reduce shift duration to nine hours maximum to combat driver fatigue.”

He said the offer had been conditional on drivers “agreeing to full flexibility regarding breaks to ensure the smooth running of the service and the operation”.

The drivers would also have had to accept new terms for a bonus scheme, he said, adding that they would have been voting “blind” on this and on new terms for accrued annual leave as details on these proposed change had not been provided.

Mr McCarthy argued suggestions the deal involved an 18.7 per cent increase over 33 months represented “an attempt to camouflage the details of this offer”.

He said the offer had involved a 10 per cent pay increase for all staff over the remainder of Transdev’s five-year contract to operate the Luas system, up until 2019. This was made up of a 2 per cent increase in 2016, 2 per cent in 2017, 3 per cent in 2018 and 3 per cent in 2019, he said.

“There is no benefit of working the equivalent of 12 extra days a year for a 2 per cent productivity pay rise, when 12 days overtime would yield a greater return on current rates. The net effect therefore is a reduction in rates.”

Under the proposals a Luas driver who started in 2004 would reach maximum pay rate by 2019, he said, while a driver who started this year would not reach maximum pay rate until 2030.

Divisive

“This offer creates a pay divide between drivers of up to €21,000. This is a divisive pay structure and encourages recruitment of staff 13 years off retirement who would never achieve the long service increment.”

Mr McCarthy said a deal could have been reached in relation to revenue protection officers and supervisors. However, the revenue protection grades had, earlier this week, noticed “conflicting wording” in the bonus element of their offer.

“The company attempted to insert a new condition that made the individual’s bonus earnings subject to an overall reduction in fare evasion on the network rather than an individual’s actual performance.”