Employers and union representatives have failed to agree new basic pay rates for 30,000 catering workers in the Dublin and Dun Laoghaire areas, writes Padraig Yeates, Industry and Employment Correspondent.
After a meeting of the Joint Labour Committee (JLC) on the catering industry yesterday, Mr Norman Croke, SIPTU branch secretary, accused employers of trying to establish bates of pay which were lower than existing rates in the rest of the State.
However, a spokesman for' the Irish Business and Employers Confederation said the purpose of JLCs was to set terms that would protect jobs in vulnerable sectors. Payroll accounted for around a third of costs in the sector and if the rates proposed by SIPTU were accepted it would undermine employment.
Current rates are £3.50 an hour for qualified staff.
