FULL RECOMMENDATION
INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS ACTS, 1946 TO 1990 SECTION 20(1), INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS ACT, 1969 PARTIES : ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND - AND - IBOA MEMBERS IN RBS PARKGATE STREET, DUBLIN (REPRESENTED BY IRISH BANK OFFICIALS' ASSOCIATION) DIVISION : Chairman: Mr McGee Employer Member: Ms Doyle Worker Member: Ms Ni Mhurchu |
1. 1. Refusal of RBS to recognise IBOA for collective bargaining purposes, 2. Failure to engage with IBOA on a number of concerns raised on behalf of its members.
BACKGROUND:
2. Royal Bank of Scotland Ireland (RBS) has, since January 2000, operated a technology services unit at Parkgate Street, Dublin 8. There are currently 185 employees at the site the majority of whom are IT developers/programmers with the remainder of employees mainly fulfilling roles such as IT Projects Managers, Testers and Business Support.
Employees at the Parkgate Street site have, since the site's establishment, been aligned to the RBS Group and not to Ulster Bank and as such, trade Unions have never been recognised in respect of employees at that site and no previous request for recognition has ever been received.
In May of 2008 a number of staff from RBS TS, Parkgate Street made contact with and joined IBOA - The Finance Union in order to campaign for and achieve collective representative rights on behalf of the relevant staff.
Over the subsequent months IBOA engaged in a recruitment campaign communicating with staff and encouraging staff to join the Union.
The Union attempted to engage with the Bank on behalf of staff given the relationship IBOA has with RBS via the Ulster Bank Group. This engagement was declined.
The issues could not be resolved at local level. The Union referred the case to the Labour Court on the 22nd July, 2009, in accordance with Section 20(1) of the Industrial Relations Act, 1969 and agreed to be bound by the Court's recommendation. A Labour Court hearing took place on the 25th August, 2009.
UNION'S ARGUMENTS:
3. 1.The majority of staff in RBS TS working in Parkgate Street are members of IBOA- The Finance Union. The IBOA holds full bargaining rights for other RBS employees in Ireland and sees the benefits that this relationship brings to staff and the Bank. The Union's members feel aggrieved that they are being denied the right to trade union representation and the benefits which ensue.
2.The Company recognises other trade unions (e.g. Unite the Union) for other sections of staff employed by RBS in Ireland and the UK.
3. The IBOA has sought to achieve voluntary recognition through positive engagement with the employer at different levels of the organisation. It is disappointing given the bona fides of IBOA's position and the staff request for collective representation that these approaches have been rejected.
COMPANY'S ARGUMENTS:
4. 1.The Company maintains that there is no clear desire on the part of employees to involve a trade union and it is therefore not willing to have the IBOA involved in the affairs of the operations carried on by RBS at Parkgate Street.
2. The Company has no difficulty in individual employees being a member of a trade union.
3.The Company has in place a Grievance Policy which applies to employees at Parkgate Street. It also operates an Open Door culture, where employees are free to raise any issues they encounter directly with Management.
4.It is the Company contention that no employer is obliged by the Irish Constitution to recognise an association or trade union which seeks to represent employees' interests.
RECOMMENDATION:
The Court has considered the submissions put to it by the parties.
The Union has submitted that it is representative of workers on whose behalf it wishes to discuss stated matters with the Company. The Company does not wish to recognise the Union, which it feels, has not established that it is representative of such employees.
The representatives of the IBOA gave solemn assurances to the Court that:-
(a) it represents the majority of employees in the Company
(b) it represents employees, across different grades, on behalf of whom claims were made
(c) those employees wish to be represented by IBOA for collective bargaining purposes and
(d) this facility has been refused to IBOA by the Company.
It has always been the Court's practice in the exercise of its industrial relations function, to accept the word of established and reputable employers and trade union organisations on pertinent matters in the course of an investigation. The Court accordingly accepts the IBOA's solemn assurances.
Given that the procedures in this case do not have legally binding outcomes, the evidential standards appropriate in mandatory proceedings do not apply. Therefore, bearing in mind that Royal Bank of Scotland already recognises this and other trade unions, both in the UK and Ireland, the Court recommends that the Company should recognise the Union for collective bargaining purposes, on which the parties should conclude a framework agreement. The Court also therefore recommends that Royal Bank of Scotland should engage with IBOA regarding the matters identified by the Union in its submission.
Signed on behalf of the Labour Court
Raymond McGee
28th August, 2009______________________
MG.Deputy Chairman
NOTE
Enquiries concerning this Recommendation should be addressed to Madelon Geoghegan, Court Secretary.