Rail dispute proposals ‘final attempt’

The Labour Relations Commission has warned management and unions at Irish Rail that its proposals on ending the pay dispute at the company "are its final attempt" at an agreement and no further progress is possible at negotiating level.

After more than 22 hours of talks over two days at the LRC, the two sides emerged in the early hours of yesterday morning with a framework document, the contents of which were enough for the company to delay the implementation of temporary pay cuts by three weeks and for the union to call off three days of strike action, two of them on the dates of the All-Ireland hurling and football finals.

Almost two weeks ago, on the basis of a reduction in annual income of over €108m since the onset of the economic crisis, Irish Rail management imposed temporary pay cuts on all staff, despite opposition to the cuts from members of Siptu and the National Bus and Rail Union (NBRU).