FULL RECOMMENDATION
SECTION 26(1), INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS ACT, 1990 PARTIES : GALWAY COUNTY COUNCIL (REPRESENTED BY LGMA) - AND - SERVICES INDUSTRIAL PROFESSIONAL TECHNICAL UNION DIVISION : Chairman: Mr Foley Employer Member: Mr Marie Worker Member: Ms Tanham |
1. Non co-operation of staff with operating the national emergency on-call procedure in the revised Loughrea/Portumna engineering district.
BACKGROUND:
2. This dispute could not be resolved at local level and was the subject of a conciliation conference under the auspices of the Workplace Relations Commission. As agreement was not reached, the dispute was referred to the Labour Court on 27 February 2017 in accordance with Section 26(1) of the Industrial Relations Act, 1990. A Labour Court hearing took place on 17 May 2017.
UNION’S ARGUMENTS:
3. 1. Sufficient numbers should be employed so that a proper geographical spread can be achieved to be able to have a workable on call/call out.
2. The number on the roster is not sufficient and would not be able to cover the two areas where a call out occurs in both areas at the same time.
3. The Council have not produced any Health and Safety risk assessment on this and this is a concern.
EMPLOYER'S ARGUMENTS:
4. 1. Recruitment has taken place and there are now sufficient numbers to carry out the on call system in the Loughrea Municipal District.
2. The National on-call agreement provides for an on-call payment to a member of staff when on-call and payment for call-outs. The agreement states that payment to staff is for full participation in an emergency on-call system which the staff in the Loughrea/Portumna zone are not providing.
3. The Council has the right to manage the systems and to review and revise them on an ongoing basis.
RECOMMENDATION:
The matter before the Court relates to the non-co-operation of staff in the Portumna / Loughrea area with the emergency on-call procedure operated in accordance with the National On-Call Agreement.
The Court has carefully considered the written and oral submissions of the parties. The Court notes that the parties have engaged locally in relation to staffing numbers and that this has resulted in increased numbers of staff being assigned to the on-call rota in 2017. The Court notes that participation on the on-call rota is voluntary.
The fundamental issue between the parties appears to be the size of the revised on-call area. The Court has been provided with no basis to express a view on this matter but it appears to be common case that the size of the revised on-call area is not unique or exceptional in local or national terms.
In all of the circumstances, and noting in particular that participation on the on-call rota is voluntary, the Court recommends that the on-call arrangement should operate in accordance with the revised structure and that any person volunteering for participation on the rota should be responsible for call-out across the revised area in its entirety.
The Court so recommends.
Signed on behalf of the Labour Court
Kevin Foley
22 May 2017______________________
MNChairman
NOTE
Enquiries concerning this Recommendation should be addressed to Michael Neville, Court Secretary.