Apple workers in Cork agree 9.25% pay rise with €1,000 tax-free voucher

Apple workers in Cork have accepted a 9.25 per cent pay increase as well as a doubling of the company’s voucher scheme from €500 to €1,000.

The deal, which was accepted at the end of last month, gives production workers a 4.25 per cent pay rise backdated from October 1st, 2021 to September 30th, 2022 and a further rise of 5 per cent will be applied from October 1st, 2022 to September 30th, 2023.

A doubling of the existing tax free voucher payment from €500 to €1,000, paid on an annual basis, was also included in the deal.

Apple has also committed to bridging the current pay gap between those on long-term fixed contracts, who were hired since 2015, with permanent staff.

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The tech giant employs around 6,000 people in Ireland, but the pay deal applies only to a few hundred assembly operatives.

Greg Ennis, divisional organiser for manufacturing at Siptu, said 89 per cent of the 410 Siptu members voted in favour of the deal.

“We are happy that an agreement has been reached and we intend to continue to strengthen our relationship with Apple in Cork,” he said.

Mr Ennis was speaking as a Siptu manufacturing sector conference was taking place in Waterford on Friday, with issues such as collective bargaining, the EU directive on adequate minimum wages and the cost of living crisis being examined.

“The big issue here is definitely the cost of living crisis, where workers are losing purchasing power by way of significant increases in food and energy bills in particular and obviously housing, workers not being able to afford their rent,” he said.

“Pay claims do not drive inflation; at the end of the day Ireland, as a country of its size and stature, is controlled by what’s happening in the energy markets worldwide, the war in Ukraine. That’s what’s driving inflation.

“We need a living wage and we need it now on the basis that workers out there are really hurting and unless we do something to recognise the contribution that many low paid workers made throughout the pandemic I think we’re heading for further industrial conflict right across the State.”

Mr Ennis added that “hundreds” of pay deals were being negotiated across the country in the manufacturing division, which covers agricultural ingredients, food and drink, electronics engineering, industrial production, pharmaceuticals, chemicals and medical devices.

“You’re talking about a range of between three and four per cent [pay increases] is probably where it’s at now, we have done deals at five and six per cent but they have been in lower paid employment,” he said.

“If you’re in employment and earning €20,000 a year, we are getting four to four and a half per cent but if you’re in employment and earning €120,000 per year and you get two or three per cent, that may be considered ok. It’s not the same for everyone.”