Electricians and employers to have exploratory pay talks

THE LABOUR COURT has called electricians and their employers to exploratory talks over a new pay agreement which could cost the employers more than €4 million in back payments.

The talks could have implications for hundreds of thousands of other Irish workers who are also subject to registered employment agreements. About 10,000 electricians were due to receive a €1.05 per hour or 5% pay increase as proposed last April.

That increase was agreed by union representatives as well as the two long-established employer associations in the industry, the Electrical Contractors’ Association (ECA) and the Association of Electrical Contractors in Ireland (AECI).