Cork Life Centre staff claim union has made defamatory statements about their work

Dispute between centre and the Unite arose when an issue over a clause in a contract was elevated to a grievance by six staff members affiliated to the union

Don O'Leary, director of Cork Life Centre.

A trade union which lobbied Government ministers and TDs to intervene in a dispute with a well-known Cork education centre has been fined for failing to register the lobbying. 

The dispute between Unite the Union and the Cork Life Centre has resulted in staff at the centre issuing a letter saying their interests were misrepresented by the union, which they say has been making “false and defamatory statements regarding out work and our management team".

The staff letter was in response to lobbying conducted by the union about issues around representation for what the union claimed was the majority of paid staff at the centre. 

This is disputed by management and staff at the Life Centre, which claims a minority of staff were represented by the union. As part of the lobbying, Unite contacted nine politicians, including four senior ministers, Micheál Martin, Michael McGrath, Simon Coveney and Norma Foley. 

The lobbying was not registered and the record only corrected this week following a query from the Irish Examiner. The Standards in Public Office Commission issued a €200 fine for the late registration, pointing out the union had committed an offence under the Regulation of Lobbying Act. 

The Cork Life Centre caters for over 50 students each year who are unsuitable for formal education but sit both Junior and Leaving Certs in the centre. It has a long waiting list and its director Don O’Leary has been widely praised for his approach.

The dispute between the centre and the union arose when an issue over a clause in a contract was elevated to a grievance by six staff members affiliated to Unite. 

The board of management at the centre was dealing with the grievances but the union insisted that all six be dealt with collectively instead of individually. It is standard in the corporate and charity sector for grievances to be dealt with on an individual basis.

The board refused to deal with the matter collectively and Unite lobbied the politicians to intervene. Last week a letter signed by 13 staff was sent to the politicians in response to Unite’s lobbying. 

“They are actively campaigning against an organisation that is committed to being a force for a fairer society and they are neither united nor tolerant in that they have shown no dignity or respect towards the students, staff or management at the Cork Life Centre,” the letter read.

In response to questions, Unite said members of the union raised very serious grievances and it sought to have the issues dealt with in a "collective" way. 

"Unfortunately this was denied," it said.

When contacted, Don O’Leary said he did not wish to make any comment on the matter.