Staff in the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) have agreed significant pay increases, following local collective bargaining between management and trade union representatives. The new pay agreement includes increases of 7.5% for all union members earning under €100,000 per year with an increase of 3% for those earning above this amount.
The agreement was negotiated by representatives of the Irish Federation of University Teachers (IFUT) and SIPTU. It has a life span of two years and nine months with a retrospective starting date of 1st January, 2018. It will conclude at the end of September, 2020.
IFUT Deputy General Secretary, Frank Jones, said: “The agreement is particularly significant in that it finally reverses the wage trend that has prevailed within the education sector over the past decade. The pay increases, while modest, are positive and have been warmly received by the union members.
“The agreement recognises the particular requirement for lower earners to secure larger percentage pay increases to keep up with increased costs and to regain some of the ground lost as a result of wage stagnation over the past almost 10 years.”
SIPTU Organiser, Geoff McEvoy, said: “This agreement represents the first ‘across the board’ pay increases secured in the RCSI since the collapse of the national wage agreements in 2009. The RCSI is a private college and not subject to the terms of the public sector pay talks.
“That this deal was secured is a credit to our workplace representatives, their work on the ground in the course of these negotiations was instrumental to achieving this win for their colleagues.”
SIPTU Sector Organiser, Ray Stanley, said: “In the last 12 months representatives from the two unions, SIPTU and IFUT, have worked together regardless of their grades with a view to securing an agreement that will apply to all. While this would not have been the traditional approach in an employment such as the RCSI our members pursued this option to the success for all union members.”
For further information on this media release please contact:
John Gallagher John Gallagher Consulting. Tel 087 9369888
Frank Jones, Deputy General Secretary, IFUT. Tel 087 2436042
Scott Millar, SIPTU, Tel. 01 6586300
