LCR22903

SUBJECT:

Breech of Agreement on Staffing Levels.

BACKGROUND:

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 the 1 August 2023, in accordance with Section 26(1) of the Industrial Relations Act, 1990. A Labour Court hearing took place on the 5 January 2024.

RECOMMENDATION:

The Dispute

The within dispute concerns Subject Librarian staffing levels in the Readers’ Services Division of the Library of Trinity College Dublin.

A reorganisation of the Readers’ Services Division, which included arrangements for minimum staffing levels, took place in 2011 pursuant to a provision of the Croke Park Agreement. The arrangements were agreed between various staff representative groups, including IFUT, and Management after a process of intensive engagement between the parties. The arrangements were voted on, and accepted, by IFUT members in September 2011 and have been referred in the intervening period as the ‘PSA Agreement’. The Union submits that an agreed outcome of the process was that the final number of Subject Librarians equated to 10.75 FTEs.

The issue that provides the immediate backdrop to the within dispute occurred following the death of a full-time Subject Librarian. During the summer of 2021, Management shared a proposed advertisement with the Union to fill the vacant post and invited comments and feedback on it. The Union observed that the post advertised also included the workload of a 0.5 FTE Subject Librarian that had previously, with agreement, been reallocated to a Sub-Librarian. The Union’s view was that Management’s proposal would result in a reduction of the staffing levels agreed in 2011.

Union Submission

The Union submits that Management’s proposal as set out in the 2021 advertisement amount to a breach of the minimum staffing level provisions of a collective agreement finalised in 2011. The Union submits also that it accepts the necessity for change from time to time but that changes to a collective agreement can only follow a process of informed negotiation and agreement, which has not taken place in relation to the issues in dispute in this matter. It is the Union’s submission that the status quo should be maintained pending an independent workplace evaluation of staffing needs in the Readers’ Services Division having regard to the significant increase in the number of users of the services in recent years.

The Company Submission

Management submits that the arrangements regarding the restructuring of the Readers’ Services Division in 2011 cannot be characterised as a collective agreement. It expressly denies that it entered into a collective agreement at that time in relation to minimum staffing levels. It further submits that the manner in which services are provided and delivered in the library have changed fundamentally since Covid and there is no longer a need for the 0.5 workload previously assigned to a Sub-Librarian. Finally, Management indicated its willingness to engage in an independent workplace evaluation of staffing levels.

Discussion and Recommendation

The Court is of the view that the arrangements agreed between the Parties following intensive engagement in 2011, and subsequently voted on by IFUT members, constitutes a collective agreement that makes specific provision, inter alia, for minimum staffing levels in the Readers’ Services Division. It follows that unilateral step by management to effectively reduced the agreed staffing levels by 0.5 FTE is a breach of that collective agreement.

The Court’s long-established position is to uphold collectively agreed arrangements while noting that no agreement is immutable for all time. However, the maintenance of good industrial relations is dependent on the parties to such agreements engaging fully in relation to changes to them proposed by either side and arriving at a mutually acceptable position.

The Court, therefore, recommends that the status quo in relation to current staffing levels in the Readers’ Services Division is maintained to allow for an independent evaluation of staffing needs to be completed in an expeditious manner. Following receipt and consideration by the Parties of the resulting independent evaluation, the Parties should engage to agree appropriate revised arrangements.

The Court so recommends.

	Signed on behalf of the Labour Court
	Alan Haugh
CDK	______________________
18 January 2024	Deputy Chairman