WORKERS at the Royal Dublin Hotel are due to strike this morning in an industrial dispute over pay. SIPTU branch secretary, Mr Norman Croke, said yesterday the company had refused to comply with an agreement reached in June.
This agreement was originally based on a three per cent basic pay increase and an agreement to negotiate on rates and conditions, Mr Croke said. "The company have confirmed to this union that they will not pay the 3 per cent unless they have an overall agreement on rates."
In a statement, the hotel said SIPTU had refused to negotiate directly with management. "Apart from notice of strike action, no response has been forthcoming from SIPTU officials." The company also said that a ballot of employees showed that 86 per cent of staff would not support a strike.
Mr Croke said he expected up to 50 people to take industrial action, representing around half the hotel staff.
The Royal Dublin said its rates were in line with three star establishments. However, Mr Croke argued that the company had been unable to recruit Irish staff and had to employ Spanish workers at rates of between £2.50 and £3.50 an hour.
"All our members in around 60 per cent of Dublin hotels earn twice or three times that amount. But in the non-unionised hotels you have people who trained in a craft being paid £15 a day and told to rely on tips for the balance."
The company said SIPTU was in breach of the peace clause of the PCW, which saw industrial problems referred to the Labour Relations Commission and the Labour Court. "The company is satisfied that the matter could be resolved with the assistance of the LRC/Labour Court and is available at all times to attend discussions."
The picket is expected to start at 7 a.m., and workers will wear T-shirts and carry placards with the slogan "Fair wage for the fair city".