Journalists at Examiner titles agree pay deal

The threat of a strike at the Examiner group's flagship titles was lifted last night after both sides agreed to Labour Relations Commission (LRC) proposals put forward to end the pay dispute at the two newspapers.

The 180 editorial staff on the Irish Examiner and Evening Echo are to get a pay rise of 3 per cent, backdated to last January, and annual increases of 4 per cent for the next two years.

Management has also agreed to enter into a three-month process with the LRC aimed at bringing a group of low-paid journalists into line with their better-paid colleagues.

At the end of that period, any outstanding matters will go to the Labour Court, whose recommendations will be binding.

The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) had partly hinged its claim on the fact that those hired since 1995 are paid on a lower scale than those hired before that date. The NUJ had originally sought 8 per cent a-year over three years, backdated to January, while the company initially offered 2 per cent over five years.