Cleaners, caterers, porters and security staff at the Central Bank are to be paid a €2,032 bonus for the New Year's Day euro changeover, a bank spokesman said today.
The payment follows a Labour Court hearing at which the bank argued its headquarters service staff was not directly effected by the nationwide introduction of euro notes and coins.
A similar claim for a €2,539 bonus to compensate for the stress of the changeover by 1,130 drivers with Bus Éireann was turned down by the court.
The bank's service workers argued all staff in the Central Bank's currency centre in Sandyford in south Dublin - clerical, administrative and service personnel - were paid the bonus last year for their "extra effort and flexibility".
The centre circulated 200 million euro notes and one billion euro coins during the changeover.
SIPTU argued service staff in the bank's city centre headquarters should not receive less favourable treatment than colleagues in Sandyford.
"While staff in each location carried out different functions, all are equal in importance and value to the overall work of the bank," it said.
AFP