Siptu has rejected claims on Sunday that Luas drivers have asked Transdev to retable a pay deal package which they previously rejected.

Divisional organiser Owen Reidy said reports in Sunday newspapers which said drivers were looking for a deal to be retabled were “mischievous, nonsense and simply not true”.

Reidy told The Irish Times drivers had not sought a deal of an 18 per cent rise to be retabled:

“There is no truth in this story. Drivers were offered 18.7 per cent, which they rejected, and have moderated that to 22.5 per cent over five years. They have not asked for a deal to be retabled. There are no talks scheduled and planned strike action is set to go ahead”.

Nine days of strike action has secured an offer of 13 per cent increase spread over five years. The initial claim was for 40 per cent on average.

Following last Thursday’s strike, drivers will see their pay cut by 10 per cent as they failed to lift the on-going work-to-rule which has seen a number of strikes over the last three months.

There is another strike planned for Wednesday, May 4th as well as Friday, May 13th, Friday, May 20th, Thursday, May 26th (four hours from 3pm–7pm) and Friday, May 27th.

Transdev is likely to demand Wednesday’s strike is lifted before they agree to talks.

A spokesperson for Siptu could not be immediately reached for comment.