Publicly funded firms not attending court

An increasing number of companies funded by public money are refusing to attend hearings of the industrial relations machinery of the State and/or refusing to be bound by their recommendations.

The Labour Court has described as “disconcerting” the failure of Cavan and Monaghan Community Area Services to attend the court for a hearing in relation to what Siptu described as the company’s refusal to recognise the union for industrial relations purposes.

In his report Labour Court chairman, Kevin Duffy, said the union had written to the company seeking a meeting but received no response other than looking for the names of the union members. The matter was referred to the Labour Relations Commission. He said the company would not commit to attending the LRC and again requested the names of the union members, but they were reluctant to give their names “for fear that they would be discriminated against in the workplace”.

At the end of July the union referred the dispute to the Labour Court and agreed to be bound by the court’s recommendation but the company did not attend the court hearing on September 17.

“It is noted that the employer is community-based and that it is supported from public funds,” said Mr Duffy. “In these circumstances the court finds it disconcerting that the company chose not to co-operate with the dispute resolution machinery of the State in seeking to address the matters in issue between it and the union.”

According to a report in Industrial Relations News, unions are starting to privately express concern that such employments are not only taking up such hostile positions, “but it seems there is little they can do about it, short of taking industrial action, a route that members are usually very reluctant to take”.

At the end of the summer, the Labour Court recommended the Alzheimer Society should pay an enhanced redundancy package to four employees. That was after the employer did not attend the hearing.

“The organisation is a not-for-profit organisation, substantially funded by the HSE,” said the court’s deputy chairwoman, Caroline Jenkinson.

After the recommendation, which was not followed by the society, the employees’ trade union, Impact, said a claim on behalf of the workers, and attempts to engage in a conciliation process at the Labour Relations Commission, had been refused by the employer.

Impact said it has asked the HSE to put a clause into service level agreements requiring Section 39 bodies like the Alzheimer Society to cooperate with the industrial machinery of the State.

The HSE confirmed that under the Health Act, the Alzheimer Society of Ireland is funded by it through Section 39 funding arrangements.

“However, no more than any other Section 39-funded agency, the ASI is not obliged to attend Labour Court or honour LRC Recommendations, nor can the HSE direct such agencies to do so,” it said.