FULL RECOMMENDATION
INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS ACTS, 1946 TO 2004 SECTION 26(1), INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS ACT, 1990 PARTIES : DIMPLEX CLEANING SYSTEMS (REPRESENTED BY IRISH BUSINESS AND EMPLOYERS' CONFEDERATION) - AND - SERVICES INDUSTRIAL PROFESSIONAL TECHNICAL UNION DIVISION : Chairman: Mr McGee Employer Member: Mr Murphy Worker Member: Mr O'Neill |
1. Redundancy terms.
BACKGROUND:
2. Dimplex Cleaning Systems (formerly Goblin Ireland Ltd), based in Tralee, Co. Kerry, is involved in the manufacture of floor cleaning equipment. The Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Glen Dimplex Group, has suffered financial difficulties for a number of years and was previously referred to the Labour Court (LCR 17812) in relation to redundancies being sought by the Company as part of a survival plan. The Court, on that occasion, recommended two weeks' pay per year of service plus statutory entitlements for voluntary redundancies and four weeks pay plus statutory entitlements for compulsory redundancies. The current dispute before the Court is in relation to the closure of the Company with the loss of seventy one jobs and the Company's proposal for redundancy terms of four weeks' pay per year of service, inclusive of entitlements under the Redundancy Payments Acts. The Union rejects the Company's offer and is seeking eight weeks' pay per year of service plus statutory entitlements.
- 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. As agreement was not reached, the dispute was referred to the Labour Court on the 17th February, 2006, in accordance with Section 26(1) of the Industrial Relations Act, 1990. A Labour Court hearing took place on the 21st March, 2006.
2. The average weekly wage is €379.97 for General Operatives within the Plant, a figure which is over €170.00 per week below what is considered the average industrial wage. In this light the Company's proposed terms of redundancy are paltry. The Court is requested to recommend a severance package of eight weeks' ex-gratia payment plus statutory entitlement per year of service.
COMPANY'S ARGUMENTS:4. 1. Whilst the Company is owned by the Glen Dimplex Group, like all Glen Dimplex companies it is required to operate on a stand-alone basis and is solely responsible of its financial performance. The closure is a full closure of the business and not merely a transfer of production to a lower cost country. In endeavouring to save the Tralee production site, the Company lost its markets and its business to lower cost producers.
2. The redundancy terms put forward by the Company represent a very generous package in a closure situation. Given the losses incurred and the ultimate failure of the Company's venture into the commercial cleaning business, Management is requesting the Court to give its endorsement to the terms proposed as the best and only package that can be achieved in the present circumstances.
RECOMMENDATION:
Having considered the submissions of the parties and bearing in mind the terms of LCR 17812, which specifically dealt with the question of enforced redundancies in this Company, the Court recommends that the offered redundancy package be increased to four weeks' pay per year of service plus statutory entitlements.
Signed on behalf of the Labour Court
Raymond McGee
31st March, 2006______________________
JO'CDeputy Chairman
NOTE
Enquiries concerning this Recommendation should be addressed to Joanne O'Connor, Court Secretary.