TEEU rejects national pay deal

Engineers and electricians have overwhelmingly rejected the proposed new national pay deal.

Members of the 37,000 strong Technical Engineering and Electrical Union have voted by 87% to 13% to reject the new national agreement, 'Sustaining Progress'.

The TEEU is the first major union to reject the deal, which would give workers a 7.2% pay increase over eighteen months.

Assistant General Secretary Eamon Devoy said following the result's announcement: "The terms on offer are an insult. They would result in a three per cent pay cut in real terms, after tax and inflation are taken into account.

"The agreement is anti-worker and undermines the fundamental rights of trade unions.

"One of the main objections the TEEU has to the new agreement is the binding arbitration proposed for the Labour Court if companies plead inability to pay when workers make a claim in return for major change, or any claim is deemed in breach of the agreement."

The union is particularly strong in the manufacturing sector, commercial semi-state companies such as the ESB, local authorities and the health service.

This is the first time the TEEU has held a postal ballot of members on a national agreement.