Lower-paid Irish Life staff to get pay rises of up to 7%

Lower-paid staff at insurance company Irish Life are to receive pay increases of up to 7 per cent in what the trade union Unite described as a "great deal".

The union said its members at Irish Life had voted overwhelmingly to accept a Labour Court recommendation which would result in "a €5 million boost to workers' pockets and the economy in current year".

Unite said the terms of the Labour Court recommendation, when increments were taken into account, would mean members’ pay increases by a minimum of 2 per cent.

The union said lower-paid clerical staff would receive pay rises of up to 7 per cent under the recommendation.

It also said that members would be compensated for the abolition of a long-standing profit-sharing scheme through a once-off lump sum payment of €1,500.

The union said that the deal followed extensive talks at the Labour Relations Commission and Labour Court to avert industrial unrest. It added that at the beginning of this year almost 94 per cent of members at Irish Life had voted for industrial action after a unilateral decision by the company to freeze pay and increments for 2014.

"This is not just a good deal for nearly 1,000 Unite members in Irish Life, it is a great deal. Unite is particularly pleased with the 7 per cent increase for lower-paid clerical staff, which will have a significant impact on the living standards of those affected," said Unite regional officer Colm Quinlan.

Mr Quinlan said the deal meant that €5 million “would flow into the pockets of Irish Life workers in the current year. And that, in turn, represents a significant injection of cash into the economy.”