Iarnrod Éireann staff face pay cuts of up to 6%

Staff at Iarnrod Éireann would face pay cuts of between 1.7 per cent and 6 per cent depending on earnings under cost-containment proposals drawn up following talks between unions and management at the Labour Relations Commission.

The proposed cuts to gross pay would run for a 28-month period, if accepted, from the beginning of March and would then be reduced by half for a further 8 months.

Under the plan at that point employees in the company would see a restoration of their original rate of pay.

As part of the proposals staff earning up to €56,000 would face cuts of 1.7 per cent of their basic pay.

The scale of the proposed cuts would gradually be increased depending on earnings with those currrently receiving more than €100,000 losing 6.1 per cent of basic pay.

Under the proposals increments would continue to be paid to staff during the three-year cost-containment programme.

Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar and Minister of State for Public Transport Alan Kelly urged staff at Iarnrod Éireann to agree to the new savings proposals “in the interests of the company, its employees and customers and in order to protect existing services.

They said the proposals represented a welcome positive step in seeking to address the cost reductions that are essential to address a difficult financial position.

The Ministers thanked employees and management at the company for their efforts to date in agreeing difficult changes and sacrifices for staff in order to address the financial challenges facing the company.

Trade unions at the company said while they would never countenance a situation where they would recommend any proposals which would take money from members, they were prepared to accept that the proposals produced by the Labour Relations Commission were “ the least impactful” that could be achieved through the conciliation process.

The cost-containment proposals also include provision for a further 42 staff at the company to leave under a voluntary redundanacy scheme.

Already 318 personnel have departed under this scheme.

Staff at Iarnrod Eireann rejected cost-saving proposals drawn up last year.

However the director of conciliation at the Labour Relations Commission Kevin Foley described the new proposals as "the best possible that can be secured by negotiation to deal with the unprecedented crisis" at the tranport company.

The document drawn up by the Labour Relations Commission said that the company was seeking cost savings of €8.5 million this year, €6.5 million in 2015, €5.8 million in 2016 and €4.2 million in 2017.

The document acknowledged the contribution of staff in reducing the company’s operational costs by €66 million from €422.5 million to €355.7 million since 2008.

It said over the same period the Government’s subvention to the company was reduced by 29 per cent while revenue fell by 15.7 per cent.

The general secretary of the National Bus and Rail Union Dermot O’Leary said members would be balloted on the proposals next week.