The popular RTE ‘Fair City’ soap has been dealt a dose of hard reality with pay cuts for the cast of popular actors whose  complicated lives of bed-hopping and brawls  entertains the nations most evenings.

Wage reductions of between 4.5% and  7% have been agreed with the cast members as part of RTE’s six-month drive to reduce its labour costs. But the impact on the cast will not be reflected in the episodes with pints still flowing freely around McCoys Pub and orders flying in the restaurant and coffee shop.

Most of the 50 actors are represented by SIPTU which earlier last summer, along with the  state broadcaster’s group of unions, agreed to salary reductions and cuts in basic rates. these ranged from around 2.5% for lower earners but with pay exceeding €500 a week.

Higher earners at RTE had 12.5% cut from the top of the salary scale while there is a general freeze on annual increments for 2009-10. Some of those on individual contracts  agreed to initial reductions but baulked at a second trance been taken from their pay packages.

Originally the ‘Fair City’ cast were  asked to accept cuts of  up to nearly 9% but this was scaled back in negotiations late last year.

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