Tyndall jobs to be evaluated over pay disparity

The jobs of all employees at Cork’s Tyndall Institute are to be evaluated to ensure that they are all earning the correct rate of pay.

Two unions, Siptu and the Irish Federation of University Teachers, have been engaged in a prolonged battle to have pay disparity of up to 50% between staff in the Tyndall and University College Cork addressed.

Members of both unions have threatened industrial action over their grievances. They say that like all public servants, they have been hit with all the pay cuts and pension levies, but have been excluded from the benefits of benchmarkings on two separate occasions.

The Labour Court said in Mar 2012 it could not recommend the staff’s claim because of the Croke Park agreement, but it also found there should be no disparity in pay between two parts of the university for work of equal value. The matter has been referred to the Labour Relations Commission.

It said the parties should “enter talks on terms of reference for the purpose of commencing an internal evaluation exercise to establish the correct rate of pay for the employees of all grades within the Tyndall Institute”.

It said in terms of implementation, the terms of reference would “have regard to the current contextual environment both legislative and provisions under the Haddington Road Agreement”. It said that once the job evaluation process is complete, the parties will enter talks under the commission’s auspices to examine how to progress the evaluation findings.

While it is unlikely that there could be any straight pay increases for staff for the duration of Haddington Road, the commission said “incremental credit/progression” could be considered “in addressing implementation issues which may also include matters relating to any widening of the pay gaps with comparator grades”.