RTÉ is planning to spend €1.5 million on gift vouchers over the next two years as part of a pay-deal currently being voted on by staff at the Montrose based broadcaster.
Despite union run ballots on the proposed deal still being in progress, management at the broadcaster have already started the process of tendering for the gift tokens which will be worth up to €1,000 to each member of staff in early 2023 and €500 at the start of 2024.
The broadcaster is currently engaged in a cost-cutting plan, aiming to reduce its spending by €60 million over a three-year period due to concerns about its financial position and the pay deal negotiated provides for a 3 per cent increase in January 2023, backdated to December 26th 2022, a 1.5 per cent increase on October 30th 2023 and a further 1.5 per cent on April 30th, 2024.
The unions had lodged a claim for a 9.5 per cent pay increase for staff, arguing that there had not been an increase at the company for 16 years.
Though the deal has yet to be ratified RTÉ expects to award a contract for the supply of vouchers at the end of next month following a competitive tendering process.
“The amount issued on the gift card will not be the same for each employee,” the tender documents state, adding that staff members are not guaranteed vouchers. Around 1,800 are expected to receive gift cards next year, and the same number in 2024.
It is “important” that the gift cards should be usable across a wide range of sectors given the “diverse nature of the recipients”, according to the tender.
A spokesman for the national broadcaster confirmed the gift vouchers are part of an agreement reached with the unions under the auspices of the Industrial Relations Tribunal (IRT).
“The agreement reached seeks to achieve a fair balance – recognising the pay restraint in RTÉ since 2008 and being responsive now to the impact of substantial cost-of-living increases on RTÉ staff and their families – while at the same time acknowledging RTÉ's own financial position, he said.”
Earlier this year, RTÉ published figures showing that the number of staff members earning over €100,000 had increased to 119 in 2021, including 22 employees who were paid between €150,000 and €250,000.
The figures do not include top earners like Ryan Tubridy, Joe Duffy and Ray D’Arcy, who are independent contractors paid through their own limited companies.
