FULL RECOMMENDATION
SECTION 26(1), INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS ACT, 1990 PARTIES : NOONAN SERVICES GROUP (REPRESENTED BY MSS) - AND - SERVICES INDUSTRIAL PROFESSIONAL TECHNICAL UNION DIVISION : Chairman: Mr Hayes Employer Member: Ms Doyle Worker Member: Mr McCarthy |
1. Restoration of Pay.
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 24 January 2018 in accordance with Section 26(1) of the Industrial Relations Act, 1990. A Labour Court hearing took place on 8 March 2018.
UNION’S ARGUMENTS:
3. 1. The Union is seeking full restoration of the 5% reduction in pay that was agreed in 2013.
2. The restoration should also be significantly backdated.
EMPLOYER'S ARGUMENTS:
4. 1. To remain competitive within the industry there should be a broader view taken with regard to pay levels within the industrial cleaning division.
2. The Company proposes that a broader pay structure which allows for a three-point scale to be applied to industrial cleaners as a whole within the division rather than focussing on thirty-three staff only.
RECOMMENDATION:
The Court has carefully considered the submissions of both parties to this dispute.
Arising out of those submissions the Court finds that:
1. There is some merit in the Union’s claim that seeks to reverse the 5% reduction in pay that was agreed in 20132. Full reversal of that pay cut could not at present be sustained by this Division of the Company if it is to remain profitable and sustain employment levels within what is a very competitive industry.
3. The range of pay rates for similar work that exist within the Division cannot be sustained in the long term.
4. The Company is not pleading inability to pay simpliciter. However it is alerting both the Union and the Court to the fact that margins in the Division are tight and that unbalanced wage adjustments will undermine its capacity to sustain employment levels.
Based on these findings the Court recommends that 50% of the pay reduction agreed in 2013 be reversed with effect from 1 January 2018.
The Court further recommends that the parties engage with a view to agreeing a sustainable wage structure for the Division that builds on the proposals that were initially discussed in the WRC in December 2017 and January 2018.
The Court so recommends.
Signed on behalf of the Labour Court
Brendan Hayes
9 March 2018______________________
MNDeputy Chairman
NOTE
Enquiries concerning this Recommendation should be addressed to Michael Neville, Court Secretary.