Labour Court Database __________________________________________________________________________________ File Number: CD95272 Case Number: LCR14840 Section / Act: S26(1) Parties: NATIONAL MATERNITY HOSPITAL (THE IRISH BUSINESS AND EMPLOYERS CONFEDERATION) - and - SERVICES INDUSTRIAL PROFESSIONAL TECHNICAL UNION |
(1) Wall washing, (2) Curtain contract, (3) Porters' weekend roster, (4) Staffing levels and (5) Assistant head porter's position.
Recommendation:
Having considered the written and oral submissions made by both
parties the Court makes the following recommendations:
1. Wall washing.
As this proposal is for extra specialised cleaning and
taking into account the hospital statement that there
would be no loss of earnings or job reductions arising
as a result, the Court recommends that the Union accepts
the hospital proposal.
2. Curtain hanging
The arguments made by the hospital on this issue in
relation to having replacements within 24 hours and
achieving a lower cost do not appear to be affected by
who hangs the curtains. While it may be operationally
more efficient, given the concerns expressed by the
Union on the wider implications and the fact that there
appears to be no financial benefit, the Court believes
that the work should stay with the porters.
3. Weekend Roster
The Court accepts the hospital statement that this
proposal is not motivated by a desire to move towards
5/7 working but rather a need to reduce costs and ensure
reasonable time off for porters.
In these circumstances, the Court recommends that the
Union accepts the hospital proposals on weekend rosters.
However, given the significant loss of earnings involved
for some employees, the Court recommends that
compensation of two years' loss be paid in this case.
4. Staffing
This issue should be reviewed by the parties in 12
months time when the new working arrangements have been
in operation for a reasonable period.
5. Assistant Head Porter
While the hospital has handled this issue badly by
continuing to pay the Assistant Head Porter allowance,
the Court accepts that the arrangement was created to
meet a particular circumstance which no longer exists.
Accordingly, the Court does not recommend concession of
the Union's claim.
Division: Mr Flood Mr Pierce Mr Walsh
Text of Document__________________________________________________________________
CD95272 RECOMMENDATION NO. LCR14840
INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS ACTS, 1946 TO 1990
SECTION 26(1), INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS ACT, 1990
PARTIES: NATIONAL MATERNITY HOSPITAL
(REPRESENTED BY THE IRISH BUSINESS AND EMPLOYERS CONFEDERATION)
AND
SERVICES INDUSTRIAL PROFESSIONAL TECHNICAL UNION
SUBJECT:
1. (1) Wall washing, (2) Curtain contract, (3) Porters' weekend
roster, (4) Staffing levels and (5) Assistant head porter's
position.
BACKGROUND:
2. There are five issues involved in the dispute. The Hospital
employs 19 porters to do a variety of tasks on a day to day
basis.
(1) Wall washing: The current situation is that the
hospital walls are cleaned twice a year. That work is
normally done by porters. Management has proposed
hiring contract cleaners to do the work in future. The
Union is opposed to this.
(2) Curtain contract: At present the porters remove the bed
curtains and give them to a contracting company to wash.
The curtains are returned to the Hospital and the
porters hang them around the beds. The Hospital
proposes using another contracting company who will do
all aspects of the work, including removing and hanging
the curtains. The Union maintains that this aspect of
the work is traditionally the work of the porters.
(3) Porters' weekend roster: All porters employed by the
Hospital work a Monday to Friday 5/5 roster. There is a
significant amount of overtime worked at weekends. The
Hospital proposes to amend the roster as follows:-
House duties: Currently two porters working 8
hours on Saturday and 8 hours on Sunday - a total
of 32 hours. To be changed to one porter working 8
hour shifts for both Saturday and Sunday.
Laundry porter: Currently two porters work 3.5
hours Saturday and Sunday. Management proposes to
have extra storage facilities on the wards and
extra linen deliveries on Fridays. If this
arrangement is made, and the house porters collect
soiled linen on Saturdays and Sundays, there would
be no need for either laundry porter at the
weekends.
Delivery ward: Currently 6.5 hours is worked every
Sunday on the delivery ward. Management proposes
that the porter work 5 hours on Saturday instead of
Sunday.
(4) Staffing levels: There were 21 porters employed by the
hospital in 1990. The number now is 19. The Union
claims that staffing levels have not been maintained
over the last 5 years. The Hospital claims that the
Department of Health considers that the staffing levels
are too high.
(5) Assistant head porter: The Union has been seeking to
have the position of assistant head porter filled since
June, 1993. The Hospital maintains that there is no
need for such a post.
UNION'S ARGUMENTS:
3. 1. Washing the walls has been porters' duty for many years.
With proper planning the work could continue to be done
by the porters.
2. The curtain contract has also traditionally been done by
the porters. It is cheaper for the Hospital to have the
work done by the porters rather than hiring contractors.
3. Weekend working covered by overtime has been in
existence since the 1974 agreement with the voluntary
hospitals. It is an integral part of the wage structure
of the porters.
4. The number of porters in the Hospital is now 19, down
from 21 in 1990. The Union's attempt to maintain the
number has been rejected by the Hospital.
5. There have been 3 assistant head porters in the past,
but the post has not been filled for some time. The
Union did not agree to the non-replacement of the
assistant head porter.
HOSPITAL'S ARGUMENTS:
4. 1. The porters do not have the time to complete the wall
washing to the standard that is required. There will be
no loss of jobs as a result of the work being done by
contract cleaners.
2. A second firm has given the Hospital a quote at a lower
price than the current contractors. The firm will deal
with all aspects of curtain cleaning, including removing
the curtains and putting them back up. This would be
more efficient than the current arrangement.
3. The changes of roster times proposed by the Hospital
would result in overtime being shared evenly by the 19
porters. Efforts would be made to ensure that each
individual would have a Saturday or Sunday off each
week. Management propose that compensation estimated at
six months loss would apply.
4. The Hospital's current number of staff is in excess of
that sanctioned by the Department of Health. It will
not be possible to get sanction for any additional
posts.
5. The assistant head porter position was never a
sanctioned position. It was necessary for management to
give an allowance to an existing porter to help the head
porter at one time but this is no longer necessary.
With the appointment of a new head porter there is no
longer a requirement for an assistant.
RECOMMENDATION:
Having considered the written and oral submissions made by both
parties the Court makes the following recommendations:
1. Wall washing.
As this proposal is for extra specialised cleaning and
taking into account the hospital statement that there
would be no loss of earnings or job reductions arising
as a result, the Court recommends that the Union accepts
the hospital proposal.
2. Curtain hanging
The arguments made by the hospital on this issue in
relation to having replacements within 24 hours and
achieving a lower cost do not appear to be affected by
who hangs the curtains. While it may be operationally
more efficient, given the concerns expressed by the
Union on the wider implications and the fact that there
appears to be no financial benefit, the Court believes
that the work should stay with the porters.
3. Weekend Roster
The Court accepts the hospital statement that this
proposal is not motivated by a desire to move towards
5/7 working but rather a need to reduce costs and ensure
reasonable time off for porters.
In these circumstances, the Court recommends that the
Union accepts the hospital proposals on weekend rosters.
However, given the significant loss of earnings involved
for some employees, the Court recommends that
compensation of two years' loss be paid in this case.
4. Staffing
This issue should be reviewed by the parties in 12
months time when the new working arrangements have been
in operation for a reasonable period.
5. Assistant Head Porter
While the hospital has handled this issue badly by
continuing to pay the Assistant Head Porter allowance,
the Court accepts that the arrangement was created to
meet a particular circumstance which no longer exists.
Accordingly, the Court does not recommend concession of
the Union's claim.
~
Signed on behalf of the Labour Court
28th July, 1995 Finbarr Flood
C.O.N./A.K. -----------------
Deputy Chairman
Note
Enquiries concerning this Recommendation should be addressed to
Mr. Ciaran O'Neill, Court Secretary.