Tens of thousands of private-sector workers stand to receive a pay increase next month following the conclusion of a new national wage agreement.
The deal will have to be ratified, however, by both the Irish Congress of Trade Unions and the employers' body, IBEC, before it is implemented.
It gives most workers a 5.5 per cent increase in three phases over 18 months. Workers who earn no more than €351 a week, or €9 an hour, are to receive an additional half per cent. One in two workers in the retail sector will benefit from this measure.
The terms of the deal were agreed by unions, employers and the Government in a 29-hour negotiating session that concluded at 4 p.m. yesterday.
Further benefits, including an increase in maternity pay, from 70 per cent to 80 per cent of the recipient's normal wage, and an increase in the ceiling on redundancy payments, are to be finalised early next week. The merits of an increase in the minimum wage are to be reviewed by the Labour Court before May next year.
The first phase of the pay increase, of 1.5 per cent, comes into effect on July 1st for about half of private-sector workers who are union members. Others will receive the first increase on September 1st, while some will have to wait longer, depending on payment dates in different sectors. The second phase, also of 1.5 per cent, is to be paid six months after the first, with an increase of 2.5 per cent due for the final six months.
Public-sector workers will receive the first phase on June 1st next year, to coincide with the final quarter of their increase under benchmarking. The remaining phases are due on December 1st next year and June 1st, 2006.
IBEC director general Mr Turlough O'Sullivan said both sides had settled for something short of what they had sought, but compromise was "the essence of the partnership approach".
SIPTU president Mr Jack O'Connor reacted with caution, saying it was up to members to judge the merits of the deal. IMPACT leader Mr Peter cLoone said he expected the union's executive to recommend the deal.