Irish Life staff vote to accept pay hike deal

Almost 1,000 workers in Irish Life have voted overwhelmingly to accept a Labour Court recommendation which will result in some of them getting a pay increase of as much as 7%.

At the beginning of this year, almost 94% of the workers, members of the Unite trade union, voted for industrial action following what the union described as a unilateral decision by the company to freeze pay and increments for 2014.

However, talks were initiated between the two sides, yielding the recommendation from the Labour Court. According to Unite, when increments are factored in, that will see the pay of members increase by a minimum of 2%. It said lower-paid clerical staff will receive increases of up to 7%.