THE 12-week strike at the Royal Dublin Hotel is over, writes Industry and Employment Correspondent, Padraig Yeates. The dispute was one of the bitterest in the catering industry in recent years and led to an investigation by the Department of Social Welfare into allegations of social welfare fraud among the workforce.
Staff voted yesterday to accept new settlement terms which their union, SIPTU, says represent a 12 per cent increase in overall pay. This is two per cent more than was recommended in a Labour Court recommendation issued on November 4th.
The settlement terms are understood to include additional payments to some of the lowest-paid grades, such as kitchen porters and cleaning staff.
