Top brass at Bus Éireann hit by €1m cut

Unions at Bus Eireann have managed to shift more than a fifth of the company’s €5m required payroll savings onto the shoulders of senior management.

Executives at the bus company will have to contribute over €1m of the total €5m in savings following marathon talks at the Labour Relations Commission that ended yesterday morning.

The senior staff will have to take one step back on their respective payscales, work three hours longer per week, and accept a reduced holiday entitlement. The pay scale cutback equates to €330,000 in cash or 6% of the total savings required.

The executive’s non-pay contribution through the holiday reduction and longer working weeks equates to €700,000.

The chief executive’s salary will fall to €184,000 from €189,000. The position was already subject to a 14% pay cut a number of months ago.

Directors’ fees are to be reduced by 20%.

Drivers, meanwhile, will still see a reduction in their overtime rates, premium payments and holiday entitlement. However, their shift payments will remain the same and their core pay will not be touched.

All the cuts are only for the 19-month duration of the agreement, meaning conditions will revert on Jan 1, 2015.

While unions are to ballot on the terms, negotiators appeared broadly happy with the outcome.

“The overall financial burden on the workers we represent has been reduced following the LRC discussions while members of senior management at the company will now for the first time have to give a real financial contribution to assist with the recovery of its finances,” said Siptu organiser Willie Noone.

“Many of the issues of concern such as ensuring that cuts come from the top at Bus Éireann, that a degree equity is introduced and that those who work unsocial hours continue to have that recognised by having their shift premiums restored and protected, have been addressed.”

He said ballots of Siptu members at Bus Éireann as well as Dublin Bus and Irish Rail would be suspended.

Transport Minister Leo Varadkar said he hoped the deal would be sufficient to restore the company to “financial health”.

Junior minister Alan Kelly, said some “learnings” could be taken from the deal on ongoing negotiations on savings at Dublin Bus.

Mr Kelly also admitted that Mr Varadkar had “probably done better interviews” than one he gave on Wednesday.

Mr Varadkar told reporters at that point that further strike action by drivers would be preferable to a deal which did not deliver the required savings. That caused consternation in the LRC talks.

More talks

Teacher unions who have not yet spoken to the Labour Relations Commission (LRC) on public pay cuts have been invited to meetings next Monday.

The deadline passes today for LRC chief executive Kieran Mulvey to brief Public Expenditure and Reform Minister Brendan Howlin on progress with public sector unions about how to save €300m from the public service pay bill.

However, teachers have not been part of talks over the past week as they are currently balloting. The invite to talks will have to be considered by the three unions’ executives today or over the weekend.

A series of meetings at which Irish National Teachers’ Organisation members voted on whether to take industrial action if pay cuts or work condition changes are imposed without agreement concluded last night. The votes will be counted today, while ballots of Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland and Teachers’ Union of Ireland members remain open until Monday evening.