SIPTU seeking "substantial" pay increases

[Jamie2k9]

http://www.rte.ie/news/2016/0314/774667-luas/

Meanwhile, Iarnród Éireann management and unions are meeting at the WRC in a bid to resolve a dispute over proposals for a more-frequent, ten-minute DART service.

The expanded service, up from every 15 minutes currently, will mean more trains for customers, and more jobs for drivers.

An extra 1.6 million passenger journeys were made by DART in 2015 - a growth of over 10%, demonstrating the need for the additional services.

The company argues that the new schedule can be introduced within existing resources as it has trained up additional drivers.

However, SIPTU and the National Bus and Rail Union insist that the move involves additional productivity.

The unions have already balloted for strike action in the event that the company moved to introduce the new timetable on 10 April without agreement.

The company's Director of Human Resources Ciaran Masterson said they were trying to agree rosters with the existing complement of staff to allow them to grow the DART service over the coming years.

He rejected union claims that the introduction of the new service was a productivity issue which should be dealt with in an ongoing Labour Court process.

However, NBRU General Secretary Dermot O'Leary said that as far as his union is concerned, the TEN-minute DART schedule is a productivity measure.

He said that once the company accepted that it was a productivity issue, then they could discuss compensation.

He acknowledged that workers in all three CIE group transport companies, who had been waiting years for a pay rise, were watching the Luas dispute closely - and were determined to get an increase this year, whatever happened in the transport sector.

SIPTU Assistant Organiser Paul Cullen said they were going to ask the company to take a step back - and withdraw the new timetable until such time as a Labour Court recommended investigation of productivity issues was completed.

However, he warned that if the company insisted on introducing the the-minute DART service without agreement, there will be a dispute.

He also confirmed that SIPTU has written to Iarnród Éireann confirming that it will be serving a "substantial" pay claim on the company this year, as its members received no increase since 2008.

SIPTU have been keeping themselves busy, the year IE likely returns to profit and it will be wiped out again. Time to accelerate cutting station staff to offset costs.