Labour Court defers decision on Irish Rail allowance dispute

The Labour Court recommended that Iarnrod Eireann/Irish Rail and the Services Industrial Professional Technical Union and NBRU address a dispute over consolidating a 7.5% allowance in wider talks. The recommendation was signed on 8 June 2021. The unions sought to add an allowance agreed about 17 years earlier to pay. The employer said it was intended to remain separate and argued that extending consolidation to other allowances could affect costs exceeding €6.5 million a year. The allowance paid to 58 CTC personnel cost €195,000 annually. The Court did not make a definitive recommendation. It recommended discussing the issue in wider engagement expected in 2021, with the parties able to return if that did not happen. In the meantime, it recommended examining the unions’ proposal to abolish the allowance and adjust pay in a way that kept the employer’s annual cost at no more than €195,000.