FULL RECOMMENDATION
INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS ACTS, 1946 TO 2001 SECTION 26(1), INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS ACT, 1990 PARTIES : PFIZER IRELAND PHARMACEUTICALS (REPRESENTED BY IRISH BUSINESS AND EMPLOYERS' CONFEDERATION) - AND - AMALGAMATED ENGINEERING AND ELECTRICAL UNION DIVISION : Chairman: Mr Duffy Employer Member: Mr Carberry Worker Member: Ms Ni Mhurchu |
1. Programme for Prosperity and Fairness pay round.
BACKGROUND:
2. The Company has recently merged with Warner Lambert and now operates on two sites at Loughbeg and Ringaskiddy, Co. Cork.
The case before the Court concerns the terms for a revised Company/Union Agreement under the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness. The agreement also deals with the harmonisation of pay and conditions of employment at the two Drug Substance sites.
The Union is seeking the same level of increases granted to the Operator Grades to be applied to the Craft workers on both sites. The Company rejects the claim but made an offer. The following is a revised offer.
Basic pay increase Effective date
RingaskiddyLoughbeg
8.50% 1st April 2000 1st August 2000
8.50% 1st April 2001 1st June 2001
8.65% 1st April 2002 1st April 2002
1% lump sum 1st April 2002 1st April 2002.
The offer also includes extra annual leave, special leave and study leave and an improved sick pay scheme.
The Union did not recommend acceptance of the offer to its members.
The dispute was the subject of conciliation conferences under the auspices of the Labour Relations Commission. As agreement was not reached, the dispute was referred to the Labour Court on the 17th of June, 2002, in accordance with Section 26(1) of the Industrial Relations Act, 1990. A Labour Court hearing took place in Cork on the 7th of August, 2002, the earliest date suitable to the parties.
UNION'S ARGUMENTS:
3. 1. There is an established differential between the pay of craft workers and the operator grades.
2. In April, 2002, the Company paid an enhanced rate of pay to the operators employed at the Loughbeg site which distorted the established differential. This is unacceptable.
3. Craft workers are determined that their status, role and function are not undermined by the Company's handling of the merger talks.
COMPANY'S ARGUMENTS:
4. 1. Harmonisation is designed to bring lower rates of pay and less favourable conditions of employment at the Loughbeg site into line with the higher pay rates and better conditions of employment at the Ringaskiddy site.
2. There has never been a fixed pay relativity between the two groups on either site.
3. The Company package for Craft workers at Loughbeg and Ringaskiddy as contained in its proposals are substantial and should be accepted.
RECOMMENDATION:
The Union has based its claim on what it regards as an established differential between the pay of craft workers and operator grades. No agreement exists by which craft rates are set by reference to internal relativities. However, the Union relies upon an established pattern of differentials which existed in the former Warner Lambert operations which has since merged with Pfizer.
It is noted that at the time of the merger the pay and conditions of former Warner Lambert craft workers were assimilated to those of Pfizer craft workers. Whilst some basis may exist for claiming that a pattern of differentials, of the magnitude claimed, existed within the former Warner Lambert operation, a significantly smaller difference existed within the Pfizer pay structure.
The Court does not accept that the Union can reasonably rely upon a claimed pattern of differentials within a pay structure which was subsumed, by agreement, into the Pfizer pay structure. It is noted that the Company's offer does not significantly alter the pattern of differentials which have existed within that structure.
For these reasons, the Court recommends that the Company's final offer be accepted.
Signed on behalf of the Labour Court
Kevin Duffy
5th September, 2002______________________
GB/MB.Deputy Chairman
NOTE
Enquiries concerning this Recommendation should be addressed to Gerardine Buckley, Court Secretary.