Labour Court: Reduce construction pay by 2.5%

The Labour Court has recommended a 2.5% cut in the basic rates of pay for the country’s construction workers on top of a 7.5% reduction already agreed.

The Construction Industry Federation had been seeking a total of 27.5% in cuts “in order to lower the industry’s cost base and assist in the process of rebuilding the sector”. Worker unions had argued that their members did not deserve “another ill-thought out slash and burn attack on their dwindling income”.

In its recommendation, issued yesterday, the court said evidence had been presented to it that the State is “effectively the only significant customer the industry has at present or will have for the foreseeable future”.

It said there was no evidence presented to suggest that those state bodies were not complying with tender prices which were compliant with the registered employment agreement which sets pay and conditions in the sector.

“Accordingly the court must conclude that the fall in the value of tender prices that has occurred in recent years is not influenced by the cost of labour in the sector,” it said.

Therefore it suggested that rather than the 27.5% reduction sought by CIF, 10% was more applicable.

Elsewhere the court recommended a new entry rate of €12 per hour — the rate is currently €13.77. However, it said the new rate would only be brought into effect “after a mechanism for ensuring that existing or unemployed construction workers are not displaced or adversely affected”.

The court also found there is an “unacceptably high level of non-compliance” with the industry’s registered employment agreement. It said the parties should meet to discuss “procedures and processes” to address that issue.

There are fears CIF members may reject the recommendation.

CIF director general Tom Parlon said that, given the problems facing the industry the terms do “not go far enough”.

“We had sought a much larger reduction in the pay rate from the Labour Court. There are other parts of the recommendation which are more in line with the CIF demands, particularly on the travel allowance and entry rate.

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“However we will have to see if the overall package is satisfactory to our members. We will be holding an emergency meeting to study the proposals in the coming days.”

Unions are likely to meet to discuss the recommendation within the next fortnight.