FULL RECOMMENDATION
INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS ACTS, 1946 TO 2001 SECTION 26(1), INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS ACT, 1990 PARTIES : ST. CATHERINE'S COLLEGE - AND - IRISH FEDERATION OF UNIVERSITY TEACHERS DIVISION : Chairman: Ms Jenkinson Employer Member: Mr Carberry Worker Member: Mr. Somers |
1. Appropriate pay rate.
BACKGROUND:
2. The dispute concerns the appropriate pay scale for the librarian position at St. Catherine's College. The worker lodged a claim in 1993 for an upgrade to the equivalent of an Assistant Lecturer grade in UCD. In 1998 the parties agreed to the appointment of an independent assessor to evaluate the librarians post. Due to a number of delays the report was not completed until 2002.
The Report recommended that "the post at St. Catherine's should in future be linked to the post of librarian at St. Patrick's College for pay determination purposes. The new pay scale to be based on a rate of 70% of that applying to the post of librarian in St. Patrick's College which would result in a 7 point pay scale".
The dispute could not be resolved at local level and was the subject of a conciliation conference under the auspices of the Labour Relations Commission. At the commencement of the conciliation conference the Union were pursuing the claim on the basis of the link to the pay scale of the librarian in the Church of Ireland College of Education (CICS) Rathmines. The Conciliation Officer suggested the Union should accept the assessor's recommendation. The Union sought the assimilation of the worker onto the 5th point of the pay scale from 1st March, 2000. As agreement was not reached, the dispute was referred to the Labour Court on the 7th November, 2003 in accordance with Section 26(1) of the Industrial Relations Act, 1990. A Labour Court hearing took place on the 12th February, 2004.
UNION'S ARGUMENTS:
3.1 The Union are requesting that the worker be assimilated to the CICS scale at the maximum point, with effect from 1st January 1998, when relativity was broken.
COLLEGE'S ARGUMENTS:
4.1 An independent evaluation was commissioned by the Department of Education & Science (the Department) with the consent of the College and Union. The Department and the College have accepted the recommendations contained in the Report.
2. The Union nominated the consultant to conduct the job of evaluation, then refused to accept the findings in subsequent discussions and rejected an offer based on his findings.
3. The consultant who complied the Report is very highly regarded and has been commissioned to do a number of Reports in the education field.
4. Concession of this claim would potentially have cost-increasing. knock-on effects for other librarians in the education sector.
RECOMMENDATION:
The Court has considered the oral and written submissions of the parties. In all the circumstances of this case, the Court recommends that the scale recommended by Rochford inReport on the Grading of the Librarian Post in St. Catherine's College of Home Economicsshould be implemented without delay.
The Court recommends that the claimant should be considered as being assimilated on to the second point of the recommended scale with effect from 1st December, 1998. Consequently, she should have reached the 7th point of the scale by 1st December, 2003. Retrospective payments should be made without delay.
Signed on behalf of the Labour Court
Caroline Jenkinson
1st March, 2003______________________
JBDeputy Chairman
NOTE
Enquiries concerning this Recommendation should be addressed to Jackie Byrne, Court Secretary.