FULL RECOMMENDATION
INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS ACTS, 1946 TO 2004 SECTION 26(1), INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS ACT, 1990 PARTIES : ST CATHERINE'S COLLEGE (REPRESENTED BY DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION & SCIENCE) - AND - IRISH FEDERATION OF UNIVERSITY TEACHERS DIVISION : Chairman: Mr Duffy Employer Member: Mr Grier Worker Member: Mr Nash |
1. Appropriate level of remuneration.
BACKGROUND:
2. The dispute concerns a claim on behalf of the President of St Catherine's College of Home Economics, Sion Hill, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, for the appropriate level of remuneration which the Union stated should be in line with the remuneration of the principal of the Church of Ireland College of Education, Rathmines (CICE). The current maximum of the scale of the President of St Catherine's is €104,148 and the Principal of CICE is currently on €109,897. The Department rejected the claim which was first raised in September, 2001. Correspondence was exchanged between the parties in 2002 and 2003 but the claim was not pursued subsequently due to a number of factors including the announcement of the closure of St Catherine's and as a consequence the Claimant became preoccupied with the crisis and the ensuing implications. As a result the issue was not raised again until April, 2005. The dispute was referred to the Labour Relations Commission. Two conciliation conferences were held but agreement was not reached. The dispute was referred to the Labour Court on the 9th May, 2006 under Section 26(1) of the Industrial Relations Act, 1990. A Court hearing was held on the 21st September, 2006.
UNION'S ARGUMENTS:
3. 1. The remuneration of the President of St Catherine's College should be the same as for the principal of the CICE, that being the other College in the Colleges of Education spectrum which was comparable to St Catherine's. The Union has submitted tabulated information to the Court clearly demonstrating the basis for its claim.
2. The Department has sought to justify its refusal to concede the claim by reference to the current position of the rundown of St Catherine's towards closure, whereby, naturally the number of students has declined to the present point and just one year ahead of actual closure, relative to the number in Rathmines. The numbers of staff and budgets, however, remain the same in both colleges.
3. The Claimant does not teach students and there is no evidence of a decline in administrative responsibilities emanating from managing the staff numbers and the same range of academic activity as before the announcement of the closure. If the claim had been dealt with when it was submitted and it was established then that her position should be remunerated on the same basis as the principal of CICE, there would be no question of the closedown now diminishing that position.The proper remuneration of the Claimant needs to be sorted out before she is redeployed from St Catherine's, as it will affect that redeployment. The claim should be assessed in terms of the conditions obtaining in September, 2001 and applied retrospectively to that date.
EMPLOYER'S ARGUMENTS:
4. 1. St Catherine's College is due to close in the summer of 2007 and there are currently approximately 25 students in the College. It is also useful when making a comparison to include the other College of Education for Home Economics (St Angela's) as well as the CICE.
2. The Employer has submitted data to the Court in relation to numbers of students and courses on offer outlining the differences between the three Colleges. It is clear from this information that the scale of the work in the Colleges is not comparable to CICE on any level. There is a wider range of courses on offer in CICE there are more staff and more students also. It should also be noted that the level of remuneration of the President of St Angela's College is identical to that of the President of St Catherine's College.
RECOMMENDATION:
From the information available it appears that the salary applicable to the Claimant may be anomalous in relation to the Church of Ireland College of Education.
In the circumstances the Court recommends that the parties agree to have a job evaluation exercise undertaken in respect of both posts for the period covered by this claim.
This exercise should be undertaken within three months of the date of this recommendation. The terms of reference and the person or body to undertake the exercise should be agreed between the parties. In default of agreement the matter should be referred back to the Court.
Signed on behalf of the Labour Court
Kevin Duffy
2nd October, 2006
tod______________________
Chairman
NOTE
Enquiries concerning this Recommendation should be addressed to Tom O'Dea, Court Secretary.