Firm to challenge court wage ruling

A SOFT drink processing and packaging firm claims it should be excluded from a statutory wage agreement because a pure fruit juice it produces is not fizzy, the High Court has heard.

P Mulrine and Son (Sales), Donegal Road, Ballybofey, Co Donegal, was yesterday given permission to challenge a Labour Court decision that 46 of its employees are covered by an Employment Regulation Order (ERO), a mechanism that allows for the statutory setting of wage levels for those in aerated waters and wholesale bottling sectors.

It is claimed the Labour Court erred in finding Mulrine’s pure fruit juice product brought the company under the terms of the ERO because it had not taken into account that such drinks had to contain sugar and/or be aerated.