LCR22495

FULL RECOMMENDATION

SECTION 26(1), INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS ACT, 1990

PARTIES :

IARNROD EIREANN

- AND -

WORKERS
(REPRESENTED BY SERVICES INDUSTRIAL PROFESSIONAL TECHNICAL UNION AND
TRANSPORT SALARIED STAFFS' ASSOCIATION)

DIVISION :

SUBJECT:

1.Closure of Ticket Booking Offices on Sundays and Public Holidays.

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 5 August 2021 in accordance with Section 26(1) of the Industrial Relations Act, 1990. A Labour Court hearing took place on 29 October 2021.

UNION’S ARGUMENTS:

3. 1. The Unions are asking that the Employer honour its commitments given at the beginning of the pandemic and re-open the booking offices and immediately commence discussions with all booking office staff effected.

2. The Unions are seeking the Court recommend an increase in the capping on the loss of earnings to take into consideration the losses incurred to date.

3. The Unions recommend the restoration of overtime to these staff on Sundays and public holidays.

EMPLOYER'S ARGUMENTS:

4. 1. The Employer states it never intended to close booking offices permanently, however, post the financial review a decision was taken to consider this as a business necessity due to recent trends.

2. The Employer states the Company is under severe financial pressure but has committed to paying loss of earnings to all staff affected which is the only agreed process.

3. The Employer states that Booking Offices are not the only group who were affected by the loss of overtime and any other consideration other than loss of earnings would set a precedent the Company could not support.

RECOMMENDATION:

The issue in dispute between the parties, relates to a management decision to closing the booking office in all stations on Sundays and Bank holidays. The background to this dispute is that arising from Covid restrictions and the low volume of footfall arising from same the Employer closed the booking offices on Sunday’s and Bank holidays. It had been their intention to re- open the booking offices on these days when circumstances allowed for it.

The Unions engaged with the Employer regularly pressing for the re-opening of the booking offices on Sundays and Bank holidays as it was impacting negatively on their members take home pay. At a meeting in September 2020, it was decided to set up a working group to consider how and where some Sunday working could be facilitated. A full review of revenue generation in the booking offices based on pre Covid activity was carried out.

At a working group meeting on the 13^thOctober 2020 the group were advised that on Sundays and Bank holidays only 10% of ticket sales were generated through the booking offices which raised concerns about the viability of keeping the booking offices open on those days. The Employer did put forward an interim solution which would have seen some booking offices opening for limited hours subject to the Covid level restrictions in place at any given time. The Trade Unions submitted a counter proposal but no agreement could be reached.

In January 2021 the parties attended at conciliation but were unable to resolve their differences. A further meeting between the Employer and the Unions took place on the 6^thMay 2021 at that time the Employer advised that taking account of the current precarious position of the company, the fact that the wages of staff are currently being funded by the exchequer and the limited revenue generated by the booking office on Sunday’ and Bank holidays there was no financial reason to justify re-opening the booking offices.

The Employer indicated that they were prepared to stand over the commitment they had previously given in respect of loss of earnings and to apply the collectively agreed formula that existed in the company. In response to a question from the Court the Employer confirmed that workers would normally work 1:3 or 1:4 Sundays but could do swops so some may work more than that.

The Union submitted that in good faith they had participated in the working group and had had relied on the Employer’s commitment on a number of occasions to the re-opening of the booking office on Sunday’s and Bank Holidays. It is their submission that the manner in which this happened deprived them of the opportunity to explore other options for their members in respect of minimising any loss. The Union accepted that other clerical grades in the employment would not have similar levels of overtime.

It was their submission that in this case it was more than overtime as the staff were rostered to do it and could not refuse with out good excuse to do it. The Union did not dispute that there is a collectively agreed formula to deal with loss of earnings in the company. They were seeking because of the unusual circumstances of this case and the fact that there was no opportunity to either phase in the closing or explore other options that the cap on the agreed formula should be lifted on a one- off basis.

The Court having read the submissions of the parties and listened to the oral submissions on the day notes the Employer’s position that the re-opening of the booking office on Sunday’s and Bank Holiday’s is not a viable option as the cost of opening the offices on those days is higher than the revenue generated.

The Court notes the statement by the Employer that they do not have plans to roll the closure out beyond Sunday’s and Bank Holidays, should this position change at some time in the future the Employer should engage with the Union side through the collectively agreed processes at the earliest possible time. On that basis the Court recommends that the Workers affected be paid loss of earnings in line with the collective agreement. It is not the practise of the Court to unilaterally vary existing collective agreements in the manner requested by the Union. The Court notes the commitment in the Employer’s submission to have any monies due paid to the Workers as soon as possible and ideally before Christmas 2021.

The Court recommends payment of loss of earnings in line with the collective agreement.

NOTE

Enquiries concerning this Recommendation should be addressed to Therese Hickey, Court Secretary.