Retailer bucks the trend with pay rise
A British retailer has agreed to give its Irish staff a pay rise almost double the national pay award, despite announcing up to 1,000 job losses in the UK.
Marks and Spencer is to pay its staff here an increase of up to 6.7pc -- including the first 3.5pc instalment of the national wage agreement -- following negotiations with the retail union Mandate.
New staff will start on€10 an hour, compared with a previous rate of €9.50, while those with one-year service will get a 6.78pc increase from €10.44 to €11.20 an hour, rising to €12.50 after three years' service.
Mandate warned firms with "ridiculous profit margins" to follow the example of the retailer and pay the wage increases.
Marks and Spencer's decision will weaken the attempt by IBEC to defer the national wage agreement across the private sector, which was announced last month.
- Anne-Marie Walsh
