Pay for engineers to rise 5.5%, plumbers 5% and electricians 4.5% despite low inflation

Construction workers with locked pay deals will get salary rises next year despite plummeting inflation rates.

January 2009 will see increases in pay of 5.5% for engineers, 5% for plumbers and 4.5% for electricians. Some of these rates were agreed as far back as three years ago.

Meanwhile, the building and civil engineering industry in Northern Ireland has already agreed on a 6% rise in basic rates from August next year.

Tom Hardacre, national secretary of union Unite, described the increases as “fantastic”.

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