The Labour Court has recommended a pay increase of 2.25 per cent for 5,000 workers at Penneys in the Republic.

However, the recommended pay increase falls short of the 3.4 per cent increase that the Mandate trade union was seeking on behalf of its members at the Primark company.

In its recommendation, the Labour Court back-dated the pay award to January of this year.

The union’s general secretary, Gerry Light, said the recommendation was to go before a shop stewards’ meeting on November 20th and they will make a recommendation to members to accept or reject the proposed 2.25 per cent pay increase.

Mr Light stated that a ballot of members will take place shortly after the shop stewards meeting and he said that he hoped that a result will be available before Christmas.

Productivity gains

In its claim, Mandate said the 3.4 per cent pay claim was broken down into two areas: 2 per cent for cost of living and 1.4 per cent in lieu of productivity gains.

The dispute could not be resolved at local level and the claim was the subject of a conciliation conference under the auspices of the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC).

Penneys owner Primark told the Labour Court that it has better wage rates than others in the sector and that it also provides a comprehensive package of benefits for employees.

Mr Light said: “Generally, Mandate has very good industrial relations with Penneys and they very much set the standard for others in the retail sector.” He said the ink will be hardly dry on the current agreement before Mandate will be in again to Penneys for a fresh pay increase for its members in 2020.