Irish Rail to meet unions in attempt to settle pay dispute

Irish Rail and unions will meet at the Workplace Relations Commission today in an attempt to settle a pay dispute that threatens to bring the rail network to a halt through strikes over the October bank holiday weekend.

Unions went into the WRC previously seeking a 3.75% pay increase without any associated productivity measures.

The company only offered 1.5% accompanied by a number of productivity initiatives. The unions have said workers, who have not received a pay increase in almost a decade, are no longer prepared to subsidise an underfunded public service in which subvention had been cut by 41% between 2008 and 2013.