FULL RECOMMENDATION
SECTION 26(1), INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS ACT, 1990 PARTIES : GSK OTC (REPRESENTED BY IBEC) - AND - 150 OPERATIVES (REPRESENTED BY UNITE THE UNION) DIVISION : Chairman: Ms O'Donnell Employer Member: Ms Doyle Worker Member: Mr Hall |
1. Loss of regular and rostered overtime.
BACKGROUND:
2. The case before the Court concerns a dispute between the Employer and the Union on behalf of approximately 150 of its members.The 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 the 26th October, 2018 in accordance with Section 26(1) of the Industrial Relations Act, 1990. A Labour Court hearing took place on the 11th January, 2019.
The following is the Recommendation of the Court:
RECOMMENDATION:
The issue in dispute between the parties is the Union’s claim for a buyout for loss of regular rostered overtime dating back to 1991 to encompass all Workers who were “stepped down” from the Continental shift. It is not in dispute between the parties that the “step downs” were done in accordance with the collective agreements that existed at the time.
It is the Union’s position that when they were addressing issues arising from a stepdown situation in March 2018 it came to their attention that regular rostered overtime had not been included in the “step down” formula. They engaged with the Employer on that issue. The Union’s claim was that the Company should buy out the loss for any staff who had been “stepped down” from the Continental shift since its introduction in 1993.
The Employer’s position is that they are prepared to consider including regular rostered overtime in the stepdown formula for the 44 staff affected by the March 2018 step down. However, they do not accept that there should be any retrospection to earlier step downs. The first time this issue was raised was March 2018 and they are prepared to consider it in that context only.
The Court having carefully considered the submissions of the parties and the oral submissions made on the day recommends that the Union accept the Employer’s proposal to incorporate the regular rostered overtime into the step down formula for the 44 workers affected by the March 2018 step down.
The Court so recommends.
Signed on behalf of the Labour Court
Louise O'Donnell
4th February 2019______________________
SCDeputy Chairman
NOTE
Enquiries concerning this Recommendation should be addressed to Sharon Cahill, Court Secretary.