Deadline set in dispute over pay

The Labour Court has given Irish Life and the Unite trade union a deadline of August 7 to resolve a pay dispute.

In February, members of Unite — which represents 1,000 staff at the company — voted in favour of industrial action in pursuit of a pay rise and the reintroduction of a profit-sharing scheme.

Unite members at Irish Life voted 95% in favour of industrial action and the parties met before the Labour Relations Commission and, after failing to reach agreement, before the Labour Court.

In its argument before the Labour Court, Unite said “it has been seeking an increase in pay since 2010”.

The union points out that “management has refused to restore existing pay agreements and awards systems and has introduced a pay freeze for 2014 despite significant profit levels over the past number of years”.

Unite states that its claim for a cost of living increase of 5% from 2011 to date, restoration of incremental pay scales, preservation of performance-related pay ranges, the restoration of a profit-share scheme, and the protection of established terms and conditions of employment “is reasonable and should be conceded”.

Irish Life told the Labour Court that “it cannot agree to the restoration of the profit-sharing scheme as it does not operate such a scheme in any of its subsidiaries”.

The firm said that “the union has not considered the proposals put forward by management. The company has already implemented pay increases for certain staff, agreed additional pension contributions, and has agreed to pay bonus payments for 2013 which have been increased to reflect pre-pay reduction levels”.

Having considered the submissions of both parties, the Labour Court recommended they engage with the help of the Labour Relations Committee, if necessary, on all outstanding matters with a view to reach agreement before August 7.